Twitter Joins Partnership to Improve Handling of Harassment Claims

Twitter is partnering with a nonprofit to make it easier for people to report harassment based on gender. The organization Women, Action & the Media will begin collecting reports of harassment via an online form and send the reports it deems valid to Twitter. The new tool is a pilot program, and the organization says it will monitor Twitter’s responses to harassment claims and help the social network improve how it handles complaints.

At least a quarter of female Internet users between 18 and 24 have been sexually harassed or stalked online, according to a Pew Research Center survey. In the past, Twitter has faced criticism for how it deals with harassment towards women on its site. There was an uproar last year when Twitter neutered the ability to block other users, and the social network was forced to quickly revert back to the original blocking feature. The site has also become a feverish battleground for the #GamerGate controversy, through which some women have faced harassment on the social network.