1. Twitter vows to “improve our policies”
Washington Post - Hayley Tsukayama August 13, 2014
Internet trolls bullied Robin Williams' daughter off of Twitter and Instagram just days after her
father's death. A handful of Twitter users sent Zelda Williams messages on Twitter that blamed
her for Robin Williams' suicide by hanging, as well as pictures of the comedian altered to show
bruises around his neck.
As my Washington Post colleague Caitlin Dewey reported, Zelda Williams, 25, said she could
not bear the messages and would stay off of Twitter and Instagram for a "good long time." She
also asked her social network followers to petition the company to block two particular accounts
that were responsible for the bulk of the abuse. Those accounts have since been removed by
Twitter. In a statement, the company said that it will be updating its policies in light of the
incident.
“We will not tolerate abuse of this nature on Twitter," Del Harvey, Twitter's vice president of
trust and safety, said in a statement. "We have suspended a number of accounts related to this
issue for violating our rules and we are in the process of evaluating how we can further improve
our policies to better handle tragic situations like this one. This includes expanding our policies
regarding self-harm and private information, and improving support for family members of
deceased users.”
But the messages that forced Zelda Williams offline are just a sliver of the types of abuse many
face on Twitter. Imani Gandy, senior legal analyst at the reproductive health publication RH
Reality Check, wrote Tuesday about abuse she said she faces on the service every day -- in
general and from one man, in particular, whom she has been unable to stop.
This is more than a few mean comments, according to her account. She wrote that the abuse
leveled at her has been constant because of her race, gender and even her medical condition --
she said she has a brain tumor which this man has accused her of faking.
2. Title:
Predict what this reading will be about:
Number the paragraphs
As you read, think back to the prompt:
How did the climate and geography affect Mayan civilization and culture?
Paragraph # Evidence from reading How does it answer the prompt?
Paragraph # Evidence from reading How does it answer the prompt?
Paragraph # Evidence from reading How does it answer the prompt?
Paragraph # Evidence from reading How does it answer the prompt?