Fb, Twitter, Instagram want these modifications to battle harassment — PEN America

Freedom of expression advocacy group PEN America called on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms to make changes to product design to counter harassment in a new report released Wednesday morning.

According to the report, online harassment has a deterrent effect on public discourse and disproportionately harms writers, journalists and other users who identify as women, people of color, LGBTQIA + and religious and ethnic minorities.

“Online abuse is a direct and urgent threat to freedom of expression,” said Viktorya Vilk, program director for digital security and freedom of expression at PEN America and one of the authors of the report, in an interview.

Product design recommendations included in the report made available to CNBC prior to its publication include:

  • A dashboard that filters abusive content that users can review separately, similar to a spam folder in email systems.
  • An “SOS” button for users who are overwhelmingly harassed, triggering additional protection and access to an emergency line for immediate assistance.
  • A documentation function that allows users to easily record incidents of abuse automatically or with one click.
  • Account access for trusted allies of users who can help manage abuse or harassment.
  • Transparent, escalating effects on abusive online behavior.

The report comes as Washington lawmakers attempt to enact technology reform. Members of Congress grilled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a strained misinformation hearing on March 25.

“We hope the product design ideas are on the one hand low-hanging fruit that it is a breeze, on the other hand, hopefully will influence these much broader and more intense discussions about regulatory reform,” said Vilk. “You can not only revise and reform the policy, you also have to revise and reform the product.”

The report offers its recommendations to all tech companies, but primarily focuses on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as platforms heavily used by American journalists and writers in their work.

PEN America cited interviews with around 50 people in the report, including researchers studying media and design, experts on online abuse and digital security, representatives from technology companies, lawyers, editorial officers, writers and journalists. The group also conducted a literature search of more than 100 reports, articles, and books, according to the report.

Facebook, which also owns Instagram, told CNBC that it will review the recommendations in the report and reiterate its commitment to making users feel safe on both platforms. The company said it used a strike system for violations of its community standards.

The company pointed out recent policies and features that users can use to target unwanted contacts on Facebook and Instagram – such as blocking or restricting accounts, adjusting message settings, controlling comments, and limiting tags or mentions. Instagram also announced new measures to combat abuse sent through direct messages in February.

A Twitter spokesperson said journalists are an important part of the platform and the company is working to keep users safe and free from abuse. Twitter has highlighted features that allow users to counter online harassment such as muting, blocking, and restricting replies to conversations.

“We also recently announced that we would be activating a special security mode with which Twitter users can activate proactive checking of spam and abusive content,” the Twitter spokesman said in a statement. “Many of the referenced recommendations are currently in use or we have similar features that serve the same purpose.”

A January study by the Pew Research Center found that 79% of Americans surveyed said that social media companies do fair or bad job tackling online harassment on their platforms.

PEN America runs an online abuse prevention program that includes an on-site manual and training designed to help writers, journalists, and employers protect themselves and tackle online harassment.

Matt Bailey, program director for digital freedom at PEN America and another author on the report, told CNBC that the recommendations also open up space for inter-platform communication and setting industry-wide norms for online abuse.

“There is a need for dialogue and iterative and evolving approaches to actually talking to and designing with the most affected people,” said Bailey.

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