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Twitter is putting online bullies\u00a0in \u201ctime out.\u201d As one of the company\u2019s many new anti-abuse measures, users whose accounts have been identified engaging in abusive behavior will have the reach of their tweets temporarily restricted. During this time,\u00a0the abuser\u2019s tweets will only be shown to their followers, Twitter says.<\/p>\n
The change was spotted by BuzzFeed<\/a>, following a series of tweets from those being impacted by the new policy. Those\u00a0whose accounts were flagged\u00a0posted screenshots of the emails they received from Twitter, which\u00a0all included the same language.<\/p>\n These emails began by explaining that \u201ccreating a safer environment for people to freely express themselves is critical to the Twitter community,\u201d then said why the users were being restricted and for how long.<\/p>\n Of course, a \u201csafer environment\u201d has not always been a focus for the company. Twitter failed miserably over the years to protect its user base from the harassment and bullying that comes hand-in-hand with a network where anonymity is provided, and abuse goes unpunished. There has been nothing to prevent an individual from continually re-creating accounts after being banned, or even setting up multiple accounts in order to harass others.<\/p>\n While Twitter had rolled out various anti-abuse features over the years, the company had\u00a0generally focused on things like being able to block and report accounts, or\u00a0putting together<\/a> a \u201csafety council\u201d to discuss the matter.<\/p>\n But in recent days, Twitter has begun to act as if it would take the\u00a0problem more seriously.<\/p>\n Earlier this month the company announced<\/a> it would make a number of changes to silence online abuse, including putting a stop to\u00a0the creation of new, abusive accounts, offering\u00a0safer search results, and collapsing abusive or low-quality tweets.<\/p>\n This new \u201ctime out\u201d is most similar to the\u00a0latter action item, which would see Twitter hiding tweets that were unhelpful or offensive from conversation threads. But instead of just hiding abusive tweets (with an\u00a0option to click to see\u00a0them if you wanted), Twitter is also now actively stopping abusers from being able to spread their content more publicly.<\/p>\n Twitter had implied\u00a0it would roll out more anti-abuse measures to coincide with those it unveiled\u00a0at the beginning of the month, but this particular \u201ctime out\u201d feature was not formally announced.<\/p>\n The company also hasn\u2019t officially explained how it\u2019s determining which accounts need to be silenced in this fashion, but we understand the company is using a combination of factors, including both the account\u2019s behavior and the context of that behavior.<\/p>\n For example, if an account was constantly tweeting abusive language at another account that didn\u2019t follow them, that would be a clear indication that it was engaged in online bullying.<\/p>\n Those who have been flagged seem baffled that their free speech now has\u00a0consequences.<\/p>\n Huh, just like in the real world.<\/p>\n automatically get limited cause I said retard<\/p>\n I’m just considering leaving Twitter, fuck them pic.twitter.com\/2NZpOPmlo2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ?? Drybones \u30e0?? (@Drybones5) February 14, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Twitter is now your digital daddy. \u2014 Harmful Opinions (@HarmfulOpinions) February 15, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Twitter allows ‘kill Mike Flynn’ to trend, but I get time out for saying anything politically incorrect? @jack<\/a> is an enemy of freedom. #MAGA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kingslayer (@Psychedelanaut) February 16, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Others impacted are suggesting it\u2019s time to leave Twitter\u2019s public square and go hide out in a different corner of the web instead. That is, they\u2019re instructing others to join Gab, the network Breitbart called a \u201cfree speech alternative to Twitter.\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n When you get put in Twitter time out, take that time to sign up for https:\/\/t.co\/3wBTfJOR2d<\/a> where you contol what you see. https:\/\/t.co\/tg9xzacOjU<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Hillary’s Blood Clot (@RightNutDouche) February 16, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n
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According to @faggotfriday<\/a>, it’s put him on the naughty step for 12 hours. pic.twitter.com\/sGK97nV1k1<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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