Twitter's system for reporting violations is...well...BROKEN

 I think we all know, by this point, Twitter's system for reporting violations of its TOS is irreparably broken...burnt...fucked...fried. I've used the system myself to report offenders who have a demonstrable record of hate-filled, racist, misogynistic posts or make clear, unambiguous threats against others. And holding these individuals accountable for their actions is a good thing. At least until they open up an alt account and start all over again. 

What I have never done, is report an individual for posting something I disagree with as a "gotcha!" for posting a tweet which is utterly innocuous, but disagreeable to me. Yet this abuse of Twitter's system for reporting TOS violations is being used by right wing trolls, trumpists and other misanthropes to punish those they disagree with...on a daily basis. 

The other day, I posted this to Twitter in response to a tweet by some one I follow:



Similar observations have been made by others far more qualified than I in literary criticism. as seen in this critique:

“Vance attempts to add his sociopolitical analysis, that mostly amounts to ‘poor white people are angry because they feel abandoned/forgotten.’”(Kelly, 2017, para. 7)


Forgive me, but having grown up working class in West Virginia...This "revelation" is no revelation at all.

But I digress. This tweet was reported as violating Twitter's "rules against hateful conduct". How this was determined to be a promotion of  "violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease" escapes me, and everyone else who has seen this.

I really didn't want to go through the equally broken appeals process which takes days, weeks, or even months, with no resolution of the issue because one's account is suspended pending the outcome of the appeal. I therefore took down the post and was slapped with a seven day suspension of most of the functionality of my account. This was entirely unjustified given the nature of the tweet I had posted, but Twitter refused to even address the issue by a boilerplate e-mail which which sounded like my Grandmother scolding me..."You were born guilty, you are guilty and you'll be guilty until the day you die." 

Twitter in allowing the unchecked abuse of a broken reporting and appeals system  does a grave disservice to its user base and risks becoming the next "My Space". To this end Twitter would do itself, and its users, a great favor by holding those who file fraudulent reports of TOS and rules violations and giving those who are the victims of such abuses greater capacity to resolve these issues by providing an amicable dialogue between Twitter and individuals victimized by others using Twitter's system as a cudgel to silence their voices.

But...I'm not gonna hold my breath. 

 


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