Twitter Made A Change To Address Abuse, Then Two Hours Later Reversed That Change
Critics said the change actually encouraged abuse.
Despite the fact that Twitter is not always a pleasant place to be, many people stick with the platform anyway due to work commitments, the moments of joy they occasionally do get from the site, and a destructive need to see what Donald Trump is up to. It’s not always a great idea to do so!
For years now Twitter has been criticised for doing very little to curb abuse, even when this abuse is overtly racist, homophobic or sexist. Reading out ‘mean tweets’ is now a pop culture staple because unprovoked Twitter attacks are so normalised. Last year the site received a barrage of negative publicity when comedian Leslie Jones was driven off the platform due to the relentless racism she experienced, which continued unchecked despite her complaints.
It seem that Twitter has struggled to know what to do about this issue. They received praise for banning alt-right conservative Milo Yiannopoulos after he encouraged his followers to attack Leslie Jones, but that kind of action seems to be unlikely for non-famous people in similar situations. (Martin Shkreli was recently suspended from Twitter for continually harassing journalist Lauren Duca, so that’s something).
This month Twitter announced that they had created a filter that removed “harassing replies” and that they were stopping trolls from making multiple accounts.
We're working hard to make Twitter safer.
Here's an update on some changes we're introducing today: https://t.co/RFRMIczsFf
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) February 7, 2017
Today Twitter Safety announced that part of these new anti-abuse measures would stop users being notified when they were added to a list. Lists can be sometimes be lovely things like ‘People who are funny!’ but can also be used by trolls who like to keep all their targets in one convenient place.
We want you to get notifications that matter. Starting today, you won't get notified when you are added to a list. https://t.co/82xiaZbg1W
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) February 13, 2017
However some users immediately complained about the change, arguing that being kept ignorant of the lists didn’t really count as protection. Not getting notifications of abuse is great, but this plan doesn’t actually stop the abuse from happening. The new measure was reversed two hours later.
@TwitterSafety Being added to a list and knowing what list you were added to was literally the last useful thing about Twitter.
— Anthony Quintano ? (@AnthonyQuintano) February 13, 2017
.@ScottMadin @TwitterSafety When I get added to lists with names like “stupid bitches” I would like to be notified. Or not added at all.
— Amanda Jette Knox (@MavenOfMayhem) February 14, 2017
We heard your feedback – this was a misstep. We’re rolling back the change and we’ll keep listening. https://t.co/9ozPS4XlVI
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) February 13, 2017
Today is yet another reminder of how complex Twitter’s issues really are. It will be interesting to see if in the future, the platform’s changes will placate users or further drive them away from the website.