Twitter failing to act on abuse and graphic images, MP says
Cooper asks company to provide details of the average time taken to investigate reports
Twitter is failing to take down graphic images of suspected rape and abuse that violate its own community standards, the chair of parliament’s home affairs select committee has said.
The Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who founded the ‘Reclaim The Internet’ campaign on online abuse, has written to Twitter asking it to explain its methodology and timescales for removing graphic pictures and sexually explicit messages. Cooper said the company was doing “too little, too slowly” even after tweets were reported. The letter, cosigned by Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, asks Twitter to provide details of the average time taken to investigate reports and take down tweets, as well as what action is being taken to speed up removals. It also asks how many staff the website employs actively looking for abusive content, and for more detail on its policy on the removal of tweets and suspension of accounts.
Images of apparent rape and of a woman in a sexually explicit pose while bound on a bed have appeared on the site, though the accounts were suspended shortly after Cooper and the Fawcett Society flagged the tweets.
Threats to female MPs and public figures had also been reported and remained visible more than a week later, according to data collated by the MP’s team, including racist and sexist abuse of the shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott.