Twitter steps up crackdown on abuse

Website launched to address online safety issues; high-profile users back initiative

Twitter on Thursday launched a website called tweesurfing.in, which is aimed at addressing online safety issues.

The project has been introduced in collaboration with the Centre for Social Research (CSR).

#TweeSurfing

Patricia Cartes, Head, Global Trust and Safety Outreach, Twitter, said #TweeSurfing would be used to educate users on how to stay safe on Twitter.

“Through this initiative, we hope to encourage users to use the block tool whenever they find abusive content. Very often, users do not report such content. However, if the entire community starts using the block tool, people will stay safe,” said Ms. Cartes.

At present, comedians Sourabh Pant and Kaneez Surka, musician Ankur Tewari, Lok Sabha MP Jay Panda, and other high-profile users have spoken on the new website about their experiences of encountering abuse online.

“For the past one year, Twitter and CSR have been reaching out to the youth as well as digital influencers to know their experiences of being abused online. These have been collated on tweesurfing.in to address online safety and effective communication on Twitter,” said CSR Director Ranjana Kumari.

Workshops held

In the pre-launch phase, Twitter conducted online safety workshops at universities across the country, such as in Coimbatore, Noida, Chitkara and Leh.

During these sessions, many users raised the issue of reporting abusive content on the website as a community.

Bridging gap

“We, therefore, decided to bridge the gap by coming up with content that is more exciting than a policy document. Tweesurfing.in does exactly that, by addressing the issue in a fun way with videos,” said Mahima Kaul, Head, Public Policy, Twitter India.

Over the coming months, the micro-blogging website plans to roll out more safety workshops, with a focus on rural India and government universities in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kanyakumari, Coimbatore and the Northeast.