Twitter has rolled out a new anti-harassment feature which will make it easier for users to report threatening tweets to the police.
Users will be able to report a threatening tweet by clicking on the ellipsis icon at the bottom of the tweet and then hitting “report.” Once the report has been filed, a new “Email report” option will appear. By selecting this option, the Twitter user will receive an email package that includes the threatening tweet and URL, the Twitter username of the account making the threat, a timestamp of the threat and the report itself, victim’s own account information as well as a link to Twitter’s Law Enforcement Guidelines, which provides more information for authorities, including how they can proceed and make request for non-public user account information from Twitter itself.
Twitter would not send this emailed report to law enforcement directly; it would be user’s own responsibility to notify police about the threatening tweet.
“While we take threats of violence seriously and will suspend responsible accounts when appropriate, we strongly recommend contacting your local law enforcement if you’re concerned about your physical safety,” Twitter said in a blog post.
“We hope that providing you with a summary of your report will make that process easier for you.”
