Twitter rewrites rules and promises new commitment to safety following abuse row
Twitter today outlined new measures to keep its users safe after a week in which it has been heavily criticised for the way it handled serious allegations of abuse on the site.
The social network has rewritten its rules and promised to make it easier for users to report threatening tweets in the wake of the vicious abuse suffered by Caroline Criado-Perez and others at the hands of so-called 'trolls' on the site.
The in-tweet report button already available on Twitter's iPhone app will be made available on Android and Twitter.com from next month.
And the site has pledged to work with the UK Safer Internet Centre to promote its resources and explore new ways to keep users safe.
In a joint statement Twitter's UK general manager Tony Wang and senior director for trust and safety Del Harvey insisted they were listening to users' 'feedback' and would take steps to combat abuse.
They wrote: "It comes down to this: people deserve to feel safe on Twitter.
"We have updated the Twitter Rules to clarify that we do not tolerate abusive behaviour. We want people to feel safe on Twitter, and we want the Twitter Rules to send a clear message to anyone who thought that such behaviour was, or could ever be, acceptable.
"We are committed to making Twitter a safe place for our users. We are adding additional staff to the teams that handle abuse reports and are exploring new ways of using technology to improve everyone’s experience on Twitter. We’re here, and we’re listening to you."
Update
Tony Wang has now taken to Twitter to "personally apologise" to the women who experienced abuse on the site.
He tweeted: "I personally apologise to the women who have experienced abuse on Twitter and for what they have gone through.
"The abuse they've received is simply not acceptable. It's not acceptable in the real world, and it's not acceptable on Twitter."
Twitter's statement in full.