Colin Crowell, Twitter’s Vice-President (Global Policy), had a chat with The Quint recently on the rapid positive changes happening on Twitter – from an increasing number of female Twitter influencers to AADHAAR linking to trolls to the exciting new plans for 2018.
How is Twitter audience different in India than from the rest of the world?
India is a vibrant society, with diverse voices that people bring to Twitter. Indians are very interested in diverse topics, and we see that play out on Twitter every day.
Trolling is a huge menace on Twitter. What measure is Twitter taking for safety?
In 2017, our CEO Jack Dorsey announced that safety is going to be our company’s number one priority. During the course of last year, everyone in the company played a role in addressing safety as an issue for Twitter. Over the last 14 months, we have instituted 25 different policies and product changes.
We want people to feel safe while they use the platform.
Today, we are taking action against accounts 10 times more than what we were doing a year ago.
What else can a person do, other than reporting an abusive troll account?
- You can report and block the account.
- You can also mute the account.
- You can also navigate your notifications tab now.
People can now control their own Twitter experiences themselves.
What do you have to say about the activity of political leaders and ministries on Twitter?
The wonderful thing about Twitter is that it provides transparency to the public about activity and conduct of the agencies and government. People can see first hand the responses that these government ministers bring to the issues that people care about.
Twitter seva is an opportunity for the government to tap Twitter to help respond to citizens about a variety of topics and issues that citizens reach out to the government for.
We have 10 ministries currently using Twitter seva and we would like for it to grow.
Who is the most popular Indian politician on Twitter?
PM Modi has a lot of Twitter followers and is a savvy Twitter user.
Will Twitter ever ask for Aadhaar numbers?
Twitter has always allowed its users to tweet under a name of their choice. Twitter would want to retain its freedom of expression.
What do you have to say about the women influencers on Twitter?
Women are an important part of the Twitter community. They have unique voices, are diverse and have important perspectives. Women tweet with confidence, to bring their important and valued voice, and tweet from a position of strength. The most influential women on Twitter are the ones whose names we don’t even know yet.
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