YouTube has a new “Abuse & Safety” help section with simple, straightforward advice on what to do about anything from impersonation to hateful comments to violations of the site’s Community Guidelines. YouTube says it wanted to make it easier for users not only to flag abusive content of any kind, but also to deal with stuff that comes up, WebProNews reports. In its coverage of this and other sites’ efforts to ease reporting, the Wall Street Journal reports that YouTube says it “has ‘a zero-tolerance policy for predatory behavior, stalking, threats and harassment’ and reacts to most flags in less than an hour’ … [and] videos raising ‘more complicated’ issues may take longer.” Perhaps one meaning of “more complicated” is imposter profile reports – YouTube says they need to come from the person being impersonated – it’s not always easy for customer service staff to tell who’s doing the reporting and whether it’s sincere or a form of abuse itself. The Journal also explains how MySpace and Facebook have gotten more abuse-report-friendly.
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