Twitter has promised to improve and expand its policies after Robin Williams' daughter is bullied off of the social network. REUTERS/Eric Thayer 
 
 Internet trolls bullied Robin Williams' daughter off of Twitter and Instagram just days after her father's death. A handful of Twitter users sent Zelda Williams messages on Twitter that blamed her for Robin Williams' suicide by hanging, as well as pictures of the comedian altered to show bruises around his neck. 
 
 As my Washington Post colleague Caitlin Dewey reported, Zelda Williams, 25, said she could not bear the messages and would stay off of Twitter and Instagram for a "good long time." She also asked her social network followers to petition the company to block two particular accounts that were responsible for the bulk of the abuse. Those accounts have since been removed by Twitter. In a statement, the company said that it will be updating its policies in light of the incident. 
 
 “We will not tolerate abuse of this nature on Twitter," Del Harvey, Twitter's vice president of trust and safety, said in a statement. "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. This includes expanding our policies regarding self-harm and private information, and improving support for family members of deceased users.” 
 
 But the messages that forced Zelda Williams offline are just a sliver of the types of abuse many face on Twitter. Imani Gandy, senior legal analyst at the reproductive health publication RH Reality Check, wrote Tuesday about abuse she said she faces on the service every day -- in general and from one man, in particular, whom she has been unable to stop. 
 
 This is more than a few mean comments, according to her account. She wrote that the abuse leveled at her has been constant because of her race, gender and even her medical condition -- she said she has a brain tumor which this man has accused her of faking. 
 
 She's ignored him, and taken other steps as well. "I’ve blocked at least a thousand of his accounts over the past two years," she wrote. "I’ve reported him using Twitter’s 'Report Abuse' form. I briefly considered calling the police, but, really, what would be the point? I’ve seen how police treat stalking victims and victims of online harassment far more severe than mine." 
 
 Gandy has also collected other instances of harassment similar to hers. In one case, she said, Twitter reviewed a tweet threatening to rape a woman and decided it did not violate its community rules against "abusive behavior." 
 
 "Got that?" Gandy wrote. "It is not a violation of Twitter’s rules to threaten to rape another Twitter user." 
 
 Twitter does have a system that lets users report abuse, document harassment and -- in some cases -- get bad accounts taken down. The company also last year introduced a "Report Abuse" button, after Caroline Criado-Perez, a British woman leading a campaign to put Jane Austen's image on the 10-pound note, was subjected to a flood of abuse. She said she faced at least one rape threat per minute. 
 
 As even Twitter's own statement on Wednesday indicates, many still find its tools don't address the problem. For example, Twitter allows users to block accounts that target them. But sadly, these measures don't even begin to stop persistent attackers, who often create new accounts to continue their actions almost without pause. 
 
 "While I am truly sorry for what the Williams family is experiencing during this time, I am concerned that it takes an event like this to bring heightened attention to a problem that so many face every day," said Soraya Chemaly, a media critic and feminist activist who has worked with Facebook to make more robust protections for those targeted by abuse online. 
 
 Gandy, in her post, recommends that Twitter take a leaf from a third-party software called "Block Together." The program, which is free for download, lets users automatically block the accounts of new Twitter users who send them direct "@" replies, and share their list of blocked accounts with friends. It was created by Electronic Frontier Foundation technologist Jacob Hoffman-Andrews after he read a blog post by iOS developer Danilo Campos calling on Twitter to add many of those features. 
 
 Chemaly said that Twitter's fierce commitment to free expression may be clouding its judgment on this issue. That attitude is "all well and good, except it seems to strongly suggest that they don't fundamentally care about the effects of harassment on certain members of their customer base - namely, the ones most likely to need additional protections built into the system," she said. 
 
 But if Twitter doesn't take steps to protect the character of its community, Chemaly added, everyone loses. "As is often the case, it is Williams, the target of abuse, and not her abusers, who's left Twitter," she said. 
 
 Have more to say about this topic? We take your questions every week in our weekly livechat, Switchback, Fridays at 11 a.m. ET. The comment box is open, so submit your questions now. ||||| Robin Williams' grieving daughter Zelda has quit social media Credit: Gregg DeGuire/PictureGroup via Getty 
 
 Robin Williams' grieving daughter Zelda Williams has quit social media after internet trolls and insensitive posters added to her despair. 
 
 PHOTOS: Robin's most iconic movie roles 
 
 While countless fans took to the internet to express their love and respect for the late actor and comedian who was found dead in his Californian home on Monday, Aug. 11, some unpleasant online characters took the opportunity to post horrific comments and pictures on daughter Zelda's Twitter page. 
 
 Initially requesting her supporters to report the trolls, who posted what appeared to be photoshopped images of her dad onto her account, Zelda, 25, later removed her tweet and instead decided it was better for her to delete her social media accounts entirely. 
 
 PHOTOS: Celebs react to Robin's tragic death 
 
 
 
 "I'm sorry. I should've risen above," she posted on Twitter, referring to the messages that had upset her in the hours following the devastating news of her dad's death. "Deleting this from my devices for a good long time, maybe forever. Time will tell. Goodbye." 
 
 PHOTOS: Stars we've lost this year 
 
 
 
 The mourning actress also took a step away from Instagram, begging social media users to be respectful of her and her family in this difficult time. 
 
 
 
 "I will be leaving this account for a bit while I heal and decide if I'll be deleting it or not," she wrote. "In this difficult time, please try to be respectful of the accounts of myself, my family and my friends. Mining our accounts for photos of dad, or judging me on the number of them is cruel and unnecessary. There are a couple throughout, but the real private moments I shared with him were precious, quiet, and believe it or not, not full of photos or 'selfies'. I shared him with a world where everyone was taking their photo with him, but I was lucky enough to spend time with him without cameras too. That was more than enough, and I'm grateful for what little time I had. My favorite photos of family are framed in my house, not posted on social media, and they 'll remain there. They would've wound up on the news or blogs then, and they certainly would now. That's not what I want for our memories together. Thank you for your respect and understanding in this difficult time. Goodbye. Xo." 
 
 PHOTOS: Stars who've battled mental health issues 
 
 Earlier on Tuesday, Aug. 12, Williams' children Zelda, Zak, 31, and Cody, 22, all paid tribute to their father they were devastated to have lost. 
 
 During her tribute to her father, Zelda referred to the hurtful messages with stereotypical Williams wit. "As for those who are sending negativity, know that some small, giggling part of him is sending a flock of pigeons to your house to poop on your car," she wrote. "Right after you’ve had it washed. After all, he loved to laugh too." Read Zelda's other statement here. ||||| Divergent star Ashely Judd says that she will press charges against people who have been harassing her on Twitter with threats of sexual violence. "The amount of gender violence I experience is absolutely extraordinary," she tells the Today show, "and a significant part of my day today will be spent filing police reports at home about gender violence that's directed at me on social media." 
 
 "Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for what they write." 
 
 Judd called out the harassment on Sunday, when a tweet she wrote about a basketball game resulted in lewd cyberbullying. "When I express a stout opinion during March Madness I am called a whore, c---, threatened with sexual violence," Judd tweeted. "Not okay." Though she tells Today that she doesn't expect anything to come of the police reports, she still wants to send a message by filing them. 
 
 I am sorry to retweet but this is a typical example. "@Leeroy_MAX: .@AshleyJudd Go suck on Cal's two inch dick ye Bitch whore." — ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) March 15, 2015 
 
 It's a message that has been receiving increasing amounts of attention, particularly around Twitter. Multiple public figures have left Twitter due to harassment, including Zelda Williams and Iggy Azalea. Judd is sticking around — now tweeting about the upcoming premiere of Insurgent and retweeting support for her statements, which have clearly struck a chord. "Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for what they write," she tells MSNBC, also calling out the need to fight against the practice of shaming others on social media. 
 
 For its part, Twitter is slowly starting to address the problem. In an internal memo last month, the company's CEO admitted that "we suck at dealing with abuse." It has since started tracking phone numbers so that it's harder for banned users to sign up again. Today, it also rolled out an option that lets Twitter users receive an emailed report about any tweets they mark as a threat. Twitter suggests that this could help with anyone who subsequently wants to file a report with law enforcement. Clearly, Twitter still has a long way to go, but Judd's actions should help to drill in the larger point that these are real threats being made against real people. 
 
 Example: I am mentally weak for not tolerating sodomy threats. "@AshleyJudd oversensitive liberals like are you that mentally weak?" — ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) March 17, 2015
– Twitter has promised to take a look at its policies after some sickening abuse over her father's death forced Zelda Williams off the site. After she tweeted a touching tribute to her father, the grieving daughter received messages on Twitter and Instagram blaming her for her father's death, as well as images of her father Photoshopped to show bruises around his neck, Forbes reports. "We will not tolerate abuse of this nature on Twitter," a Twitter exec said in a statement. "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." Twitter says the changes will include "expanding our policies regarding self-harm and private information, and improving support for family members of deceased users." An activist who has worked with Facebook to help protect people facing online abuse says the site needs to do more to tackle persistent abusers. "While I am truly sorry for what the Williams family is experiencing during this time, I am concerned that it takes an event like this to bring heightened attention to a problem that so many face every day," she tells the Washington Post. "As is often the case, it is Williams, the target of abuse, and not her abusers, who's left Twitter," she adds.