New Twitter Rules Aim To Clarify Abuse And Harassment Response

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Twitter is revamping its rules to better protect its 328 million users from online bullying and harassment.

The move comes after criticm, including an October protect calling for women to boycott Twitter, of how the platform enforces its policies.

Friday's changes address areas including self-harm, graphic violence, adult content and spam - but the greatest attention will be on abusive behavior.

Twitter explained that when evaluating alleged abuse, the company considers whether the "behavior is targeted, if a report have been file and by whom, and if the tweet itself is newsworthy and in the legitimate public interest."

"We have worked on this clarified version of our rules for the past few months to ensure it takes into account the latest trends in online behavior, considers different cultural and social contexts, and properly sets expectations around what's allowed on Twitter," the company said in a statement.

The social media giant came under fire last month by a #WomenBoycottTwitter campaign, a daylong protest aiming to highlight harassment and abuse directed toward women on the site.

Twitter said it will discuss its enforcement options in a separate update on Nov. 14.