Twitter Reveals Ways To Combat Harassment, Manipulation On Its Platform

Twitter has disclosed the changes that it is implementing in order to address numerous complaints from users about the rampant harassment and manipulation on its platform.

Twitter revealed Tuesday how it plans to combat spam and malicious bots on its social network so that it could ensure the quality of conversations that are taking place between its users. The company wants its users to only have access to credible, relevant and high-quality information on its platform. Hence, it is introducing new measures to fight abuse and trolls.

“Twitter fights spam and malicious automation strategically and at scale. Our focus is increasingly on proactively identifying problematic accounts and behavior rather than waiting until we receive a report,” Twitter’s Yoel Roth and Del Harvey stated in a blog post. “We focus on developing machine learning tools that identify and take action on networks of spammy or automated accounts automatically. This lets us tackle attempts to manipulate conversations on Twitter at scale, across languages and time zones, without relying on reactive reports.”

There’s been an increase in the number of spammy or automated accounts on Twitter compared to last year. Last September, the total number was at 3.2 million. Then in December, it was at 6.4 million. This past May, Twitter has identified 9.9 million questionable accounts per week.

Since manipulation and spam continue to plague Twitter, the company has decided to address these issues head on by implementing certain changes, such as reducing the visibility of suspicious accounts in tweet and account metrics. By updating account metrics in near-real time, Twitter is able to easily detect spammy or automated behavior.

Once Twitter’s systems notice suspicious behavior from an account, the account is removed from follower figures and engagement counts. The account is then subjected to a challenge, like confirming a phone number. If the account passes, its footprint will be restored but the process may take a few hours to complete.

Twitter is also improving its signup process, so it would be harder to register spam accounts. New accounts will be required to undergo a confirmation process that requires an email address or phone number. “This is an important change to defend against people who try to take advantage of our openness … Look for this to roll out later this year,” Twitter said.

Twitter is implementing other changes that are designed to improve the overall atmosphere on its platform. The move is seen as the company’s response to major brand companies who are threatening to pull advertising from the social media site due to the rapid increase in hate speech, abusive content and fake news on the platform, according to Bloomberg.