In response to an ongoing controversy in Britain involving the targeted abuse of freelance journalist and activist Caroline Criado-Perez on Twitter, the social media website announced an update in their abuse reporting setup.

Twitter is going to remove the current abuse reporting form and replace it with a one-click “report abuse” button and will increase the number of staffers dedicated to investigated abuse reports on the website.

According to Twitter UK general manager Tony Wang, the abuse button will be rolled out in September on Twitter.com and the official Android app. The iOS Twitter app already has a one-click abuse reporting button.

In addition to the updated abuse submission process, Twitter has updated the site’s rules about targeted abuse to include language prohibiting spamming a user with messages from multiple accounts, creating an account solely to harass someone or making threats against someone.

I’m not going to try to figure out why people feel compelled to spew abuse of any kind online. However, Twitter’s move to tighten up abuse rules and reporting can only be a good thing. I’m sure that if you ask anybody who has been subjected to abuse on Twitter, this can only make their online experience less stressful. Just ask Phil Fish.

Source: Associated Press, Reuters