Twitter is reportedly helping out some of the student survivors of the shooting that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14 by protecting them from online harassment and promoting their accounts.
Following the aftermath of the shooting, students and faculty from the school, as well as other community members, coalesced to petition federal, state and local governments to reform current gun laws. Many have taken to social media to advocate for their beliefs — mostly stricter gun control — while also recounting how the school shooting affected their mindset and opinions.
But other Twitter users, many against what the students are espousing, are also speaking out in order to rebut their claims. Some, however, are targeting the students in an overly aggressive, even vitriolic manner. Twitter, inherently, will have to try to decipher which accounts and content are worthy of taking action against.
“Such behavior goes against everything we stand for at Twitter, and we are taking action on any content that violates our terms of service,” one of Twitter’s official accounts said on the proprietary platform,” adding that its “anti-spam and anti-abuse tools” are aiding in weeding out “malicious automation.”
One of the survivors recently announced he was no longer going to use Facebook because of several death threats he’s received from “NRA cultists.”
“We have also verified a number of survivors’ Twitter accounts,” the social media company continued.
By verifying some of the accounts of the most outspoken students protesting for further firearm restrictions, Twitter is determining that they are of public interest, and should be given official authentication. The validation, which is denoted with a blue checkmark, is an often sought after digital emblem by many in industries like media, politics, business and entertainment because it’s intended to give credence and prominence to the account and its shared content.
Twitter did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment in time of publication.
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