Twitter Vows to Crackdown on Users ‘Weaponizing’ Abuse Reporting System by Making Fake Complaints

A phone screen displays a photo of Elon Musk with the Twitter logo shown in the background in Washington on Oct. 4, 2022. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Twitter has changed its abuse and harassment policy in a crackdown on the weaponization of the user reporting system by fake complaints.

The social media platform announced on April 7 that it had updated its abuse and harassment policy to clarify how it defined “targeted harassment.”

There have been increasing complaints from individuals about being attacked and harassed by random Twitter users for their opinions in an attempt to have them driven from the app.

Twitter has responded to complaints by updating the criteria for “targeted harassment” of individuals on its website.

“We believe in free speech and we also believe users have a right to use and enjoy our platform without being subjected to targeted and repeated harassment,” Twitter said.

“We define ’targeted harassment' as behavior that is repeated, unreciprocated, and intended to humiliate or degrade an individual(s). This includes targeting people based on gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation.”

After Twitter CEO Elon Musk bought the tech giant last year, there have been many changes regarding user censorship, account validation, and the restoration of previously banned accounts.

The relaxation of censorship on Twitter has led to a more relaxed and opinionated user base, but harassment and threats by extremists and left-wing social justice warriors have increased.

The rapper and podcaster, Zuby, tweeted about the various attacks and threats he receives on Twitter.

Some angry users even filed false allegations against certain individuals to Twitter monitors to get them banned or suspended.

“Fake woke idiots have tried to ‘cancel’ me many times. They’ve tried to get me banned off social media, deplatformed from speaking events, they even tried to implicate me in a murder. They failed of course. But these are not nice people. If you’ve dealt with them, you know,” said Zuby.

The artist said that many of the personal attacks are by people who have no other reason than take glee at ruining his reputation but veil their intent under the guise of virtue signaling

“A lot of people still think all these folks are ‘nice but misguided’. No. Some are. Especially the younger ones. But a lot of malicious, wicked people hide under the ’social justice' umbrella and take glee in hurting others. Emotionally and physically. Then they play victim,” Zuby said.

“I am blessed to have an extremely high tolerance for negative crap that comes my way. So I rarely even address it, but most people aren’t wired like that. There are people who will take glee in destroying your reputation. Most pretend to be ‘kind’ and ‘virtuous’. Beware,” he continued.

Musk responded to Zuby’s assessment of the threat with a one-word response, “True.”

“They tried to wreck your reputation last year and are still trying... They are happy to lie, libel, harass, intimidate, etc. Not good people,” Zuby said in reply.

The billionaire owner of the social media platform has himself been attacked by progressives and the media for his strong support of freedom of expression and his skepticism of the latest woke narrative.

Abuse Policy Update

In less in a day after the exchange, Twitter released an update for its abuse policy.

“We have been working hard to develop a balanced approach to free speech and keeping people safe from ongoing, repeated harassment. Over the next few weeks we will make it easier to report targeted harassment as well,” said Ella Irwin, Twitter’s VP of Product Trust and Safety, in a tweet.

When a user asked if Twitter would make it harder for a user to abuse the reporting system. Irwin tweeted back, “Doing that too. We have already suspended ~100 users in the past month who submitted over 500k bad faith reports this year and will be actively enforcing users who weaponize our reporting system going forward.”

Musk added to Irwin’s comments, tweeting, “I should emphasize that someone really has to go over-the-top by repeatedly harassing the same account with no provocation to get their post bounced. This is not a hair-trigger situation.”

Many users feel relieved by the updated standards.

“100 is better than nothing. Thanks. Would be nice to know if the 5K of us given a 12 hour time-out counts as a strike or not. Personally perturbed due to my longevity without such. And now in jeopardy of not being considered for Community Notes,” tweeted a long-time user who supported the changes.