The short answer is “yes“, the other person won’t know who reported them. Twitter will only tell them that “someone” has reported their tweets but you won’t be named.
Still, there is an exception to this, though it’s one that you’re extremely unlikely to come across – legal implications that require you to name yourself.
On the other hand, you’re likely to give yourself away when reporting someone. How? Well, I’ll get into the nitty-gritty below, so make sure to keep reading for more juicy info!
What’s That About Legal Implications?
This is the only exception when you may be required to come out publicly that you reported a piece of content on Twitter.
When that specific piece of content becomes part of a legal proceeding, the authorities may want to know who it was that reported it.
This could happen if:
- The content of the other person’s tweet has some legal implications that are severe
- Your reporting of their tweet has, in some way, affected the other person and explanations are necessary
However, both of these situations are extremely unlikely and will almost never occur. So, you can rest easy knowing that reporting is 100% anonymous on Twitter.
How About Giving Yourself Away?
Yeah, this one is more likely to happen simply because you may not realize the implications of what you’re doing.
You see when you report someone’s content on Twitter, you’ll be given the option to block the other person if you find their content offensive.
If you do that and the other person figures out you’ve blocked them (there are several ways they could do that), then it’s not hard to also figure out that it was you who reported them.
As for ways that the other person will know you’ve blocked them, here they are:
- They can’t follow you
- They don’t see any tweets on your page
- They can’t access your page
- They can’t message you
But this risk disappears if you don’t even know the other person and you don’t follow them either. Then, they won’t have the slightest idea who you are and wouldn’t be able to see if you block them.
You can only give yourself away if you’re friends with that person or if they know you personally. That way, they may try to contact you or visit your account randomly.
What Happens When You Report Someone?
This a good question since the answer isn’t that clear-cut. Several things may happen once you report someone.
- Twitter may assess your report and decide if it’s warranted or not. They’ll check the other person’s tweet and see if it violates any of the user guidelines. At that point, they may hide or remove the tweet from public view;
- Twitter may action-block the other user, restricting their actions temporarily. They may be unable to tweet, like, or comment on other tweets. This punishment is only temporary, though, and will expire soon;
- The automatic algorithm may penalize the user. If a violation is detected, the algorithm can restrict the public reach of the violating content until a human user assesses it (either to hide or remove it);
- Twitter may place the other party’s account in “Read Only Mode” for a day, restricting EVERY action of that account. They’ll still be able to log in but that’s about it. Their profile will still be public, though;
- Twitter may hide the other party’s profile from public search (temporary ban). No one will be able to see their profile until the ban expires;
- Twitter may remove their blue badge if they have any. Yep, if a blue-badged account violates the user guidelines, Twitter may even remove their verification badge (credibility);
What DOESN’T happen is the other person finding out who you are. That doesn’t happen because Twitter keeps your identity anonymous.
One of the core privacy values that are part of Twitter’s guidelines is maintaining your right to anonymity when reporting people.
So…That’s All 😀
To summarize, you have nothing to worry about – report everyone you want to on Twitter (for good reasons, of course) because you’ll always remain anonymous.
Leave a comment below if there’s anything else you need help with and I’ll gladly offer any assistance I can!
