Woman reports same dick pic 3 times, gets 3 different responses from Twitter

Social media companies say they're taking reports of stalking and abusive behaviour with the utmost seriousness. 

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Well, if this report is to be trusted, Twitter still has a long way to go to make its policy more consistent and efficient for users. 

Maura Quint, a contributor for The New Yorker, Death & Taxes and other publications, tweeted her frustrating story of a guy who created three different Twitter accounts with the same name and pictures with the aim of @-ing and DM-ing her the same dick pic from each account. 

That must be considered abusive behaviour on multiple fronts, right? 

But when she reported the three accounts to Twitter, she got three very different responses:

The first message invited Quint to report "sensitive media" directly from the tweet. 

"We understand you might come across content on Twitter that you find offensive. Twitter users are free to post content provided that they don't violate the Terms of Service or the Twitter Rules," it continued. 

However, if you have a look at the Twitter rules, the unsolicited dick pics may fall under the "Graphic content" and "Harassment" activities that could lead to the account being temporarily locked and/or subject to permanent suspension. 

That's exactly what happened in the second reported case. 

"We have reviewed the account you reported and have locked it because we found it to be in violation of the Twitter Rules," said Twitter. "If the account owner complies with your requested actions and stated policies, the account will be unlocked."

All good, then? Well not exactly, because as Quint reported in the third case, Twitter had a radically different approach with the third account which, just to remind you, had the same name and pictures as the others. 

"We reviewed your report carefully and found that there was no violation of Twitter's Rules regarding abusive behaviour," Twitter responded. 

"The abuse that occurs on Twitter has clearly been a problem for some time," Quint told Mashable. "We've repeatedly seen accounts get locked for behavior as unremarkable as @ replying in disagreement with a verified account, yet when we report accounts that call for the extermination of the Jewish people we are told no violations of Twitter's policy are found." 

"While those running Twitter claim that they are working on the problems of abuse, the three different responses to the accounts that I reported show how confused Twitter is about what they're trying to accomplish," she continued.

Unsolicited explicit messages is not a Twitter specific problem. Dating apps are already taking action over the issue. 

Image: okcupid

In August, OkCupid wrote a blog entitled "Because You’re Better Than a Dick Pic" to tackle the phenomenon. 

The most recent version of the app features a pop-up message which warns users they'll be banned if they send "harassing or unwanted sexually explicit messages."

Two of the most popular dating apps, Tinder and Bumble, already have anti-nudity clauses in their terms of service.  

Mashable has reached out to Twitter for comment. 

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