Twitter has come under fire after it allowed an abusive message on its platform. A troll has paid Twitter to promote a message telling transgender people to kill themselves.
A paid campaign that Twitter allowed on its platform is pointed as an abusive message. The message appears written on a fake account allegedly as an Australian feminist.
It’s visible to everyone and it’s very easy to understand the message: “Trannies, getting surgery won’t change your gender. It will only turn you into a deformed freak. End your miserable existence. Kill yourself.”
This shocking message got Twitter under fire because the platform allowed to promote this tweet using Twitter’s paid-for ad services.
Usually a business pays Twitter an amount and their message will be shared on the news feeds of certain users. Of course this message was led to a stream of anger from some Twitter users.
The tweet was reported straight away by multiple users, and Twitter deleted it and suspended the user’s account.
According to The Telegraph “Roper, whose account had been closely impersonated with the same photo and a similar username, took to Twitter to explain the abuse had nothing to do with her.”
Earlier this year Twitter CEO, Dick Costolo, announced a new ‘quality filter’ which would stop abusive messages from appearing in users’ notifications. “We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform, and we’ve sucked at it for years. I’m frankly ashamed of how poorly we’ve dealt with this issue during my tenure as CEO. It’s absurd. There’s no excuse for it. I take full responsibility for not being more aggressive on this front. It’s nobody else’s fault but mine, and it’s embarrassing”, said Dick Costolo months ago.