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Twitter working to change its policies following Zelda Williams’ harassment

The acting community at large suffered a severe loss this past Monday when Robin Williams was found dead in his California home of apparent suicide. In the wake of his death, his daughter, Zelda Williams, has faced harassment on Twitter in the form of a photoshopped image of her dad. Now, Twitter is looking to change its policy about harassment.

Related: Miss Netiquette’s guide to dealing with your online frenemies

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More specifically, the image in question was a gruesome fake autopsy photo of her father, posted by anonymous accounts. This forced the 25-year-old to post a statement on Twitter, saying she will leave Twitter and other social media.

Twitter released a statement to The Wrap in response to the statement, saying that several accounts have been suspended and that it is in the process of improving its policies.

“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,” said head of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Team Del Harvey. “This includes expanding our policies regarding self-harm and private information, and improving support for family members of deceased users.”

Facebook also released a statement, saying that the photo is in violation of user policy and is “being actively flagged and removed across both platforms as it pops up.” Facebook owns Instagram, where the photo is reportedly also circulating.

Related: From motivation to slander: how social media leverages shame for better and worse

Williams Pelegrin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
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