Twitter responded Saturday to a backlash in the United Kingdom sparked by recent online threats against women by announcing it had revised its rules on abusive behavior . `` It comes down to this : people deserve to feel safe on Twitter , '' says a statement posted by Twitter 's UK boss Tony Wang and Del Harvey , senior director for trust and safety . The social network 's announcement comes in the wake of rape threats made via Twitter against feminist Caroline Criado-Perez and Labour Party politician Stella Creasy , and bomb threats made to a number of women journalists . The women 's treatment at the hands of Internet `` trolls '' has prompted outcry and fueled a wider debate over whether Twitter does enough to protect its users from ugly abuse . More than 120,000 people put their name to an online petition set up on Change.org calling for Twitter to add a `` report abuse '' button to tweets in the space of a week . `` Abuse on Twitter is common ; sadly too common . And it frequently goes ignored , '' the petition states . Twitter said Saturday an `` in-tweet '' report abuse button had been introduced in the latest version of its app on Apple devices , and that from next month the button will also be available in its Android app and on Twitter.com . This means users wo n't have to go to Twitter 's help page to file an abuse report . `` We have updated the Twitter Rules to clarify that we do not tolerate abusive behaviour , '' the statement said . `` We want people to feel safe on Twitter , and we want the Twitter Rules to send a clear message to anyone who thought that such behaviour was , or could ever be , acceptable . '' Wang also tweeted an apology to the women who have been targeted by abuse in recent days . `` I personally apologize to the women who have experienced abuse on Twitter and for what they have gone through , '' he said . `` The abuse they 've received is simply not acceptable . It 's not acceptable in the real world , and it 's not acceptable on Twitter . '' The company is adding extra staff to the teams that handle abuse reports and will be exploring new technology to boost protection for users , it said . Twitter 's new pressure to limit hate speech . Arrests made over threats . A national cybercrime unit is now investigating allegations made by eight people that they have been subject to harassment , malicious communication or bomb threats , according to a police statement Friday . Two men were arrested in the past week in connection with the rape threats made against Criado-Perez and Creasy . Criado-Perez attracted the attention of Internet `` trolls '' by petitioning to have women displayed on British banknotes . The feminist champion and freelance journalist , whose campaign resulted in the Bank of England agreeing to picture `` Pride and Prejudice '' author Jane Austen on every 10-pound bill , tweeted throughout the abuse : `` I actually ca n't keep up with the screen-capping & reporting -- rape threats thick and fast now . '' Creasy , who represents an east London constituency in Parliament , became the target of online rape threats after she spoke out in support of Criado-Perez . Newspaper columnists Hadley Freeman , of The Guardian , and Grace Dent , of The Independent , received a bomb threat via Twitter on Wednesday , as did Time magazine 's Europe editor , Catherine Mayer , and Emma Barnett , women 's editor for The Telegraph newspaper .
Twitter changed its rules on abusive behavior following a backlash in Britain . ` ` It comes down to this : people deserve to feel safe on Twitter , '' says the firm 's UK boss . Twitter is using ` ` in - tweet '' ' abuse button to make it easier for victims to get help . A number of threats against women prompted a public campaign for Twitter to do more .