It's not the first time Twitter has pledged to crack down on abuse. Photo: Matt Rourke / AP
The problem with Twitter's latest pledge to keep users safe on the platform isn't the words it used. It's the fact that it has done this so many times before
Do the math: This is at least the sixth time in the last four years that Twitter has pledged to crack down on abuse.
After Axios wrote about Twitter's latest crackdown on Thursday, writer Chuq Von Rospach said, "For the sixth time by my count…"
Von Rospach said he initially just made up a number. Then he counted them.
Here are five other times in recent years that the company has said it was cracking down:
- July 28, 2013: Under pressure, Twitter prepares to extend reporting abuse to all users
- Dec. 2, 2014: Twitter takes small steps to finally deal with its harassment problem
- Feb. 4 2015: Twitter CEO: 'We suck at dealing with abuse'
- March 10, 2017: Twitter is finally rolling out a smart fix for its abuse problem
- Oct. 27. 2016: Twitter promises 'meaningful' safety updates next month
Twitter's response: Asked why Twitter should be believed, a spokesman acknowledged "that's a fair question" and added the following:
Too many times we've said we'd do better and have promised more transparency but have fallen short delivering on them. However, we've never publicly opened up our internal roadmap around safety like this before. Now — for the first time — everyone can see exactly what updates we have planned and where we're headed, and most importantly, hold us accountable for delivering on those specific promises. We'll be giving real-time updates on these efforts to give people a better understanding not only of what these changes are but the process involved. Ultimately our hope is that this new level of openness will help build trust as we work to make Twitter safer place.