Twitter empowers victims to report abuse to the police -- put bullies behind bars

The Internet can be a marvelous place. Not only is it chock full of information, but it tears down boundaries, enabling people to communicate with each other from all parts of the world. Unfortunately, the sometimes anonymous nature of the web can bring out the worst in people. On social media, many people are bullied, harassed and even worse -- threatened with violence, including rape or murder. Heck, some people have even committed suicide as a result of the abuse. Often times, the attacker's actions goes so far as to break the law.

Today, Twitter is taking a stand against online bullies that commit crimes through threats and intimidation. Instead of just reporting the abuse to Twitter, users now have a tool to help report the crimes to law enforcement. By simply clicking a button, users can start the process of putting some online bullies behind bars.

"Clicking the 'Email report' button will send you an email that packages the threatening Tweet and URL along with the responsible Twitter username and URL and a timestamp as well as your account information and the timestamp of your report. Our guidelines for law enforcement explain what additional information we have and how authorities can request it", says Twitter.

The blue bird logo company further explains, "while we take threats of violence seriously and will suspend responsible accounts when appropriate, we strongly recommend contacting your local law enforcement if you’re concerned about your physical safety. We hope that providing you with a summary of your report will make that process easier for you".

So what does this mean? If someone threatens you and you think they have broken the law, you would generate a report and bring it to your local police station. With that said, you should use common sense when determining what warrants a report to law enforcement. If someone disagrees with you or calls you a mean name, this is not likely breaking the law. If someone makes fun of you for being fat, ugly or having a certain sexual orientation, this too is not likely against the law, even though it is disgusting. In other words, not all bullying is against the law.

If, however, someone threatens you with violence, including rape or murder, you need to generate the report immediately and contact your local police. Could it be someone trolling or joking around? Sure, but it is better to be safe than sorry; let the law officers determine the legitimacy of the threat. If they have broken the law, they deserve to be punished, including jail in some cases.

Be sure to tell friends and family about the abuse, as not only can they be witnesses, but they can support you through the trying time. This is especially true to people under the age of 18 -- tell your parent, guardian or school teacher about the bullying right away. It is nothing to be embarrassed about. Printing out the abuse report from your email and showing it to someone may make the conversation easier.

It is time to stop online bullying and threats. I applaud Twitter for being focused on the safety of its users.

Image Credit:  SpeedKingz / Shutterstock