Twitter introduces 'in-tweet' abuse button after complaints

Twitter has revised its guidelines around abusive behavior following bomb and rape threats made against several prominent female users of the service in the U.K.

"We want people to feel safe on Twitter, and we want the Twitter Rules to send a clear message to anyone who thought that such behavior was, or could ever be, acceptable," wrote Del Harvey, Twitter senior director for trust and safety, and U.K. General Manager Tony Wang, in a blog post on Saturday.

The company is also modifying its interface to make reporting threats and abuse easier. Although users could report abusive behavior before, Twitter is streamlining that procedure by creating a button within tweets that allows people to file a direct report, the officials wrote.

Users have been referred to Twitter's Help Center. The button has been introduced in the latest version of Twitter's iOS application and on its mobile site. Next month, the button will appear on its Android application and on Twitter.com, they wrote.

The BBC reported on Sunday that police were investigating eight bomb and rape-related threats made over the social networking service.

On Saturday, Wang wrote "I personally apologize to the women who have experienced abuse on Twitter and for what they have gone through."

"The abuse they've received is simply not acceptable. It's not acceptable in the real world, and it's not acceptable on Twitter," he continued in another tweet.

Twitter also plans to add more staff to its teams that handle abuse reports and is "exploring new ways of using technology to improve everyone's experience on Twitter," Harvey and Wang wrote.

'Woman in Black,' 'Men In Black 3' Top 2012 U.K. Film Board Complaints List

LONDON – The arrival of Netflix and the uptick in streaming services has meant the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has upped its workload.
The British censor, publishing its annual report, said Thursday it has recorded a 40 percent rise in its online-only rating classifications.

The number of companies using the BBFC’s watch and rate service for online-only content more than doubled in 2012 compared to the previous year, with 11 new platforms licensed to use BBFC ratings online. Companies signing up last year include Netflix, Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox, British supermarket giant Sainsbury’s and airline operators British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.
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The report notes that the movie generating the most public feedback to the censor was the Daniel Radcliffe starrer The Woman in Black.

The supernatural thriller coined $31 million making it the second most popular British film of last year, only trailing the box office juggernaut Skyfall.
The BBFC said 134 cinema-goers complained that the Radcliffe thriller was too dark and unsettling for a 12A certificate – similar to the PG-13 rating in the U.S.

The censor noted that some said the sense of threat, coupled with the theme of supernatural deaths of children in the film, was too disturbing for young audiences.
The BBFC said that factors including the story being a traditional ghost story with a clear historical setting based on a well-known book studied in schools and the fact it is the basis of a stage play "lessened the sense of horror."

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A duo of U.S. titles also attracted public feedback with the 12A certificate given to The Hunger Games, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth, in the U.K. attracting attention, the BBFC said.
The BBFC classified the film 12A following edits to remove some violent detail but also gave an uncut version a 15 rating -- one that does not have an equivalent in the U.S. but is closer to the R rating – a move which attracted "a small number" of complaints, the censor said.
The complaints were mostly from young fans of the books who believed the film should remain intact and that any cuts to the violence would sanitize its impact.
Men In Black 3, the second sequel in the comedy sci-fi action series with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, received 50 complaints for its language, violence, horror and sexual innuendo.
The film was classified PG -- the same rating as in the U.S., as were the earlier two films in the franchise.
For the third outing some parents found the figure of the villain, Boris the Animal, to be too frightening and the opening prison break sequence too violent for young audiences, the BBFC noted. And the scene in which Boris and his girlfriend French kiss with sight of his unfeasibly long alien tongue, was also criticized; parents felt this "gross out" moment was "too overtly sexual for a PG audience."

The BBFC said parents also expressed problems with the use of words such as "bullshit" and "arsehole," although permitted at PG under the BBFC’s classification guidelines, were not appropriate for eight-year-olds to hear.
The question of language in films at the lower categories was an issue raised regularly by cinema goers, the BBFC said.

BBFC director David Cooke said: "In 2012 we looked back at our first 100 years, often in partnership with numerous organizations and individuals, all of whom added richness and expertise to our celebrations. But in examining the past, we also looked towards the future, where the BBFC will continue working with current and new partners to classify and label online content, better protect children and empower consumers."
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