Twitter seems to have decided to go all out against bullying this time. Realizing perhaps that another spate of abuse and trolling on its platform would have the potential to do it in for good, Twitter has been cracking down hard upon accounts that propagate it. After first ensuring that abusers got a bit of what was coming to them by limiting the reach of their accounts, Twitter is now making sure that such folks are unable to create new accounts to harass others as well.
Earlier this month, Twitter rolled out a brand new update wherein it committed itself to preventing bullies on its platform by stopping the creation of new, abusive accounts. The company also said that it will also offer safer search results and temporarily limit the reach of such accounts.
The biggest issue with Twitter is that it is so easy to set up a new account. Indeed, the turnaround time for Twitter is probably lower than that of other social media platforms like Facebook. It is relatively easy to build connections and if its really that important to you, you can probably get a respectable following in a couple of weeks. With that said, it is easier for bullies and abusers as well. And that takes away a lot of value from banning their accounts in the first place, since they are going to pop back up with a new one.
Twitter’s latest update is aimed towards curtailing this particular practice. The company will now be looking to ensure that folks who do not follow it’s guidelines about interacting with others, do not make a return to the platform after they are permanently banned. Towards that, the company will now be keeping a watchful eye upon the fields you fill in while registering. So, fields like email, phone and IP address will all be relevant and considered while you are setting up a new account.
So, while you are setting up a new account, Twitter will keep a watchful eye over you and use some of its smarts from creating you a new account if it identifies you as an abuser. Of course, someone determined to get back on Twitter will be able to do so by using VPN/different number/e-mail ID. However, the platform can simply ban this account as well if it starts indulging in abuse.
Basically, Twitter probably knows that it can’t keep a determined abuser out. However, it hopes to make the process of creating a new account tiresome enough for abusers to keep them from looking forward to it.
Twitter is also introducing an expanded filtering tool that will block notifications from accounts that have the potential to be abusive. So basically, accounts without a profile picture, without verified phone numbers and so on, fall under this category and will find their ability to reach out directly to harass someone severely constrained.
Twitter has also tweaked the Mute feature so that you would noe be able to block keywords, phrases, and conversations that offend your directly from your timeline, instead of requiring you to make a detour all the way to notifications. Finally, the company has decided to keep users in on the loop while dealing with accounts reported as offensive or troublesome by them. The company will keep you informed of the progress and inform you when any actions are taken.
There are folks who have been arguing that what Twitter has been doing is wrong and goes against the principals of free speech the Internet embodies. However, what they forget is that free speech is free only until you manage to seriously offend someone. Try hurling some of that abuse or trolling in real life, and you are very likely to be thrown out on your butt from everywhere.
Meanwhile, Twitter clearly seems to have had enough of mollycoddling and using kid gloves to deal with such people. The company wants them off, permanently if needed, and is finally introducing measures that have the potential to actually make a substantial difference.
