Twitter overhauls process for reporting rule-breaking idiots

Twitter’s redesigned process for reporting policy violations on its platform is now widely available, the company has announced. It’s designed to handle everything from reports about misinformation and spam, to harassment and hate speech. The redesign has been in testing since December last year, and uses a so-called “symptoms-first reporting flow” that’s designed to make it easier to report bad behavior. It’s now available in “most countries” across web, iOS, and Android.

The company outlined how the new process works in a blog post last year. Previously, Twitter’s process would ask which policy has been broken, and then ask for more details. Instead, the new flow asks for details on what’s happened, before getting more granular about which rules may have been broken. Twitter’s blog post likened the new process to a doctor asking “Where does it hurt?” rather than immediately jumping to specifics.

Early results from the testing have been positive. Twitter says the number of “actionable reports” increased by 50 percent as a result of the new process.

The rollout of the new reporting flow comes as Elon Musk’s attempted takeover of the platform has placed renewed scrutiny on Twitter’s moderation policies. Musk’s position as a “free speech absolutist” suggests he’d want the company to take a much more relaxed approach to content moderation under his ownership. But with the Tesla CEO making frequent threats to scrap the deal, it’s still unclear when, or even if, the acquisition may be completed.