Twitter's European chief Bruce Daisley claims it is winning the fight against cyberbullies
Twitter's European chief, Bruce Daisley has highlighted the improvements the service has made in fighting online trolls, resulting in "a reduction in the amount of bad behaviour on the platform"
Speaking to the Independent, Daisley discussed the abuse that had affected high profile users of Twitter such as Great British Bake Off co-host Sue Perkins, Stella Creasy who saw one abuser jailed after she was targeted for campaigning to push Jane Austen's image on a £10 note and writer and actress Lena Dunham who faced attacks following controversy after publishing her biography.
"If someone is behaving in a way characteristic of a bad actor, we send them a phone verification,” he explained. “That allows us to tell the user that what they do here exists in the real world. It normally acts as a stark reminder. Secondly, it allows us to see whether that user has already got other accounts set up on their phone that have been suspended.”
As a result of allowing more users to block followers who were trolling them, Daisley revealed that the company had witnessed a new scale of abuse being reported but added that this also meant an increase in safety too.
He also talked about the use of the platform by extremists such as Isis, explaining that any complaints received by Twitter were taken seriously and investigated.
This year saw Twitter celebrate its 10th anniversary since its formation, as it reached 320 million users worldwide.