Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) could be implementing measures to stop harassment stemming from the #gamergate controversy but it’s inaction highlights the flaws of this powerful social media platform, Rob Pegoraro said in a column for Yahoo! Tech.
Pegoraro’s column about Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) comes about a couple of months after the #gamergate controversy was sparked and after several women, according to him, have been subjected to harassment through Twitter, among other places.
In essence, Pegoraro writes that Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) can be very effective in amplifying hate that an issue may bring forth. It is also very slow in acting against the ways people perpetrate harassment through the platform.
Among those targeted in this controversy are game developers Zoe Quinn, Brianna Wu and game critic Anita Sarkeesian. These women have, for example, been driven to stay over at homes owned by friends or family members because of fear for their lives. Among the things which happened to them are threats of murder or rape.
For example, Pegoraro says that Twitter can be easily utilized to spread information from a doxing attack, the practice of targeting a specific person and publishing identifiable information about them such as phone numbers, addresses and the like. People attacking other people on Twitter can also easily circumvent the blocking of their account by making another account which can then send disturbing tweets as well as troubling photos which are displayed by default.
It’s also impossible to make a third-party report of abuse, the columnist said, adding that when an abusive tweet is deleted, the report function of Twitter’s platform will still ask for a link. These are only a few of the problems the columnist identified, but the recent controversy highlighted how the platform can be easily used for abusive behavior.
Nonetheless, Pegoraro says that he believes Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) can improve. It’s just the matter of how fast the company acts, he said.
Shareholders of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) includes Bain Capital’s Brookside Capital which reported about 3.6 million shares in the company by the end of the first half of the year.
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