Cyber-bullying is a very real issue, that is for sure. After all, parents and guardians would know all about growing up in an environment where words will cause hurt to a child’s psyche, and would most probably much prefer to face sticks and stones instead. With the advent of social media, cyber-bullying has become more prevalent, and hence, certain safeguards will need to be in place such as usage policy and the ilk. Twitter (who might just have a drone in store) has just updated their policy concerning abuse, and it is now more specific concerning the kinds of tweets and comments that would fall under the “misconduct” label.
The updated rules do not seem to deliver any kind of major changes as opposed to its earlier policy, although it seems to have gotten more wordy, so to speak, by throwing in additional specifics on the kind of actions which could result in suspended accounts.
There will be more focus on “hateful conduct” where the new policy is concerned, citing of accounts that cannot promote violence or direct threats against any one based on race, gender, or other categories. Twitter’s Megan Cristina explained, “The updated language emphasizes that Twitter will not tolerate behavior intended to harass, intimidate, or use fear to silence another user’s voice.” Will this offer additional protection to all users? On paper, yes but will we see a reduction in cyberbullying and harassment? Only time will be able to tell.