Twitter’s highest-profile users get VIP treatment when trolls strike

Twitter’s Project Guardian is another instance of the different treatment that social media apps provide to certain pre-eminent users and accounts. — AFP

Twitter Inc’s highest-profile users – those with lots of followers or particular prominence – often receive a heightened level of protection from the social network’s content moderators under a secretive programme that seeks to limit their exposure to trolls and bullies.

Code-named Project Guardian, the internal programme includes a list of thousands of accounts most likely to be attacked or harassed on the platform, including politicians, journalists, musicians and professional athletes. When someone flags abusive posts or messages related to those users, the reports are prioritised by Twitter’s content moderation systems, meaning the company reviews them faster than other reports in the queue.