Twitter introduces 'in-tweet' abuse button after complaints

Twitter has revised its guidelines around abusive behavior following bomb and rape threats made against several prominent female users of the service in the U.K.

“We want people to feel safe on Twitter, and we want the Twitter Rules to send a clear message to anyone who thought that such behavior was, or could ever be, acceptable,” wrote Del Harvey, Twitter senior director for trust and safety, and U.K. General Manager Tony Wang, in a blog post on Saturday.

The company is also modifying its interface to make reporting threats and abuse easier. Although users could report abusive behavior before, Twitter is streamlining that procedure by creating a button within tweets that allows people to file a direct report, the officials wrote.

Users have been referred to Twitter’s Help Center. The button has been introduced in the latest version of Twitter’s iOS application and on its mobile site. Next month, the button will appear on its Android application and on Twitter.com, they wrote.

The BBC reported on Sunday that police were investigating eight bomb and rape-related threats made over the social networking service.

On Saturday, Wang wrote “I personally apologize to the women who have experienced abuse on Twitter and for what they have gone through.”

“The abuse they’ve received is simply not acceptable. It’s not acceptable in the real world, and it’s not acceptable on Twitter,” he continued in another tweet.

Twitter also plans to add more staff to its teams that handle abuse reports and is “exploring new ways of using technology to improve everyone’s experience on Twitter,” Harvey and Wang wrote.