Melissa Blake at CNN:
The next time you report a Twitter troll for polluting your timeline, you might notice an additional word on the reporting form.
Disability.
It's just one word. One we've seen thousands of times before. In fact, if you weren't looking closely at the form in the frenetic moments of reporting a tweet, you might not even notice it.
But make no mistake: This change is no small feat. It's a long overdue win in what seemed like a never-ending battle, one that people with disabilities like myself have been fighting online for years. Thankfully, Twitter joined that fight earlier this month when it revised its reporting form to include hate directed at people with disabilities.
"It's against our rules to directly attack or threaten someone based on their protected category, including disability," Twitter said in a tweet posted April 2. "You asked us to clarify this in our reporting flow, and we've updated it to be more specific."
The change is thanks to Natalie Weaver, who called on Twitter to revise its reporting form after her daughter's photo was used in an offensive tweet promoting eugenics. Her daughter, Sophia, has Rett syndrome, a genetic brain disorder that affects such things as language, walking and coordination. At first, Weaver told the website The Mighty, Twitter refused to take down the tweet, but eventually changed course, removing the offending account entirely.
