Twitter boosts reporting feature to plug personal data sharing

Twitter on Thursday added to efforts to address concerns over privacy protection on social media.

In a tweet from its safety handle, the company announced an update to its abuse reporting functions, allowing users to specify personal information issues, with a GIF showing step-by-step instructions.

The social media company earlier in the day tweeted an image on its main account showing a speech bubble containing an ellipsis, which is used to signify a message being typed.

Twitter's move comes a day after Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to rebuild some of the company's features with a focus on private communications. "I believe a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than today's open platforms," he wrote in a blog post.

Privacy has become a critical issue for social media and tech companies, particularly since news reports last year revealed political consultancy Cambridge Analytica improperly obtained data on tens of millions of Facebook users. The scandal sparked a wave of concern about how the company gathers personal information, shares it with partners and uses it to sell digital advertising.

Twitter's first-quarter sales forecast last month indicated tepid user growth, suggesting that improvement efforts hadn't yet done much to expand its audience. The stock has gained 4.8% since the start of the year, though is still 37 percent below the multi-year high it reached last June.