It is known that Twitter is used as a vehicle to harass and bully, with many people going as far as committing suicide because of online harassment. Twitter has recently taken complaints seriously with the service suspending more than 235,000 accounts over the past 6 months.
In the recent months, online personalities and celebrities have called for, and have been subjected to, Twitter bans. In July 2016, actress Leslie Jones faced a tirade of racist and sexist tweets. The wave of hate apparently stemmed from her work in the Ghostbusters movie.
The hostility was galvanized when Breitbart editor and professional troll, Milo Yiannopoulos, shared his opinions on social media. The hate towards Jones was so strong that she took a hiatus from Twitter.
Twitter Employs More Manpower To Handle Complaints
Complaints about Twitter’s lack of control has been a point of interest for many years. Many popular voices have recently criticized the platform. After the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris, the Obama administration, along with presidential candidates, criticized Twitter for seemingly having a laissez-faire position when it comes to the proliferation of online hate groups.
To circumvent harassment, Twitter expanded its team that monitors complaints, penalizing users who stem from terror and extremist groups. With that, Twitter also suspended 125,000 accounts associated with Islamic terrorist groups.
In a recent blog post, Twitter mentioned proactive tools that will make it particularly difficult for people to make new accounts when they’ve been penalized. Not only will it be difficult for suspended accounts to create new ones, but a study by George Washington University found that users who repeatably make new accounts tend to have fewer followers, which means less influence.
And No, Twitter Isn’t Impeding On Your Free Speech
Your use of Twitter is not a right. You are using a free service and it is a privilege. Yiannopoulos and his ilk were quick to condemn Twitter with his supporters thinking that the service was violating his freedom of speech. Twitter is a private company, which means that it has the ability to delete accounts.
You have a Constitutional right to support repugnant rhetoric, but you don’t have the right to demand that a service host your ignorance.
