Twitter has long been known for its bevy of troll accounts and abusive users, it was basically the home of cyberbullying. But recently, it announced that it was working to crack down on these users, and make the entire platform more open to users. Now, just a couple of weeks ahead of its earnings call, the company announced some key metrics in terms of its troll crackdown. Noting that it is taking action on roughly 10 times more accounts than it was a year ago. It also noted that users are “learning not to cross the line” when it comes to being abusive.
Twitter’s Head of Trust and Safety, Del Harvey noted that the company isn’t just relying on new technology. But also noted that it has improved the process of reviewing abuse reports, and now they are reviewed by a person within a set time period. Harvey also added that it is something that the social media network is going to be working on and continue improving on. Twitter’s Consumer Product and Engineering Group general manager, Ed Ho also explained that Twitter has been putting abusive accounts under “limited functionality”. This works as a time-out for the user. And these penalties can be as lenient as not being able to tweet or being suspended. Ho noted that this has been very helpful over the past few months. Adding that accounts under these restrictions get 25% fewer reports of harassment. And on top of that, around 65% of accounts that get these restrictions only get them once. Showing that these users are learning their lesson and knowing where the line is drawn.
The company did also note that these rules for the platform are not just for some users, but for all users. In fact, it called out President Trump as well. A user who has been known for bullying other people, both in real life and online. Many have been calling for Twitter to suspend President Trump’s account, but the company isn’t planning to do that unless he violates its rules. Once that happens, then all bets are off. And that’s exactly how it should be.