---
title: How Twitter tries to protect those most likely to be abused
description: Twitter keeps a list of people likely to garner harassment, then responds to reports surrounding those accounts faster.
---

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# [How Twitter tries to protect those most likely to be abused](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/12102021-twitter)

 Written by [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) | Dec 10, 2021 10:16:50 AM

Twitter’s come under fire [multiple](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/charliewarzel/twitter-is-still-dismissing-harassment-reports-and) [times](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/oct/03/twitter-faces-backlash-over-abuse-policy-in-wake-of-trump-illness) for the harassment many users face on the platform. But Twitter apparently has a way to quash abuse directed at some accounts.

Project Guardian is an internal anti-harassment program at Twitter, per [*Bloomberg*](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-08/twitter-s-highest-profile-users-get-vip-treatment-when-trolls-strike).

#### **It’s a list of public figures**

… including politicians, athletes, journalists who report on controversial topics, and celebrities — the sort of people most likely to garner abuse on a regular basis.

The rules are the same for them as for any of Twitter’s 200m daily users. You can’t harass Britney, who has [55.7m+](https://twitter.com/britneyspears) followers, nor some random dude with 10.

But when someone reports abusive content concerning accounts on the list, Twitter’s moderation system reviews it faster.

This is to prevent abusive content from spreading further, which is more likely when it involves someone with a lot of followers.

It makes sense for Twitter, too, considering it’s already lost popular accounts over harassment. Both *Star Wars: The Last Jedi* star [Kelly Marie Tran](https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/star-wars-kelly-marie-tran-leaves-social-media-harassment-1202830892/) and “Stranger Things” star [Millie Bobby Brown](https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-44480596) ditched Twitter in 2018.

#### **But it’s not just famous people**

As the [meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/twitters-main-character) goes, Twitter has a new “main character” every day.

They’re often ordinary people who’ve gone viral and attracted a lot of attention, like [Bean Dad](https://mashable.com/article/bean-dad), the father who told his 9-year-old she had to learn to use a can opener if she wanted baked beans.

Twitter can temporarily add main characters to Project Guardian until the heat cools off.

**BTW:** Here are some [tips](https://lifehacker.com/get-ahead-of-twitter-harassment-by-checking-your-lists-1833373649) to avoid harassment on Twitter, other than just deleting your account.

[View full post](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/12102021-twitter)

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