Twitter is used by millions to stay up to date with the latest events, but at the same time, there are some who use it for abuse. The company is having a tough time cutting back on abuse and attracting more users; therefore, the micro-blogging company has decided to take help from outside groups and experts to shape its products and policies.
Twitter forms a safety council
In a blog post on Tuesday, the micro-blogging firm stated that there will be more than 40 groups comprising the Twitter Trust & Safety Council. Those groups will include advocacy organizations, researchers and safety experts who will review policies and the products the company will roll out going forward. For a long time, Twitter has been trying to combat abuse on its platform, and this is why it has introduced the council. Anti-Bullying Pro, Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, Family Online Safety Institute, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline are among the participating groups.
Twitter’s head of global policy outreach, Patricia Cartes, said, “With hundreds of millions of Tweets sent per day, the volume of content on Twitter is massive, which makes it extraordinarily complex to strike the right balance between fighting abuse and speaking truth to power.”
Abuse and trolls a major problem
Abuse is a prominent complaint against the service, and the company has done too little to curb that, say critics. Former CEO Dick Costolo acknowledged that the company was not good at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform.
On Tuesday, current CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted, “Twitter stands for freedom of expression, speaking truth to power, and empowering dialogue.”
In late 2014, the company introduced a series of new tools which make it easier to report harassment and block abusive users. A few months ago, the company made some minor tweaks to its privacy policy, detailing actions that qualify as abusive behavior.
Twitter has been going through a rough phase as investors are unhappy with its expected growth figures, and the departures of four key executives simultaneously have left them concerned about its ability to retain top talent. Though the latest move will not add to revenues directly, it could help Twitter speed up the growth rate of its monthly active user base, which has slowed in recent quarters.
