text: Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's top lawyer, admitted it has been ‘inexcusably slow’ in tackling online trolls . Twitter's top lawyer has admitted it has been ‘inexcusably slow’ in tackling online trolls who make the lives of others a misery. Vijaya Gadde said the social network had let internet abuse go ‘unchecked’ because it did not recognise the scope and scale of the problem. Miss Gadde said Twitter had tripled the size of the team that deals with online abuse – because it had to do better. She made the announcement on the day a study found that 88 per cent of abusive behaviour on social media happens on Twitter. Anti-bullying campaigners have also long complained that Twitter is a sanctuary for trolls who post hateful abuse behind the veil of anonymity. In an article for the Washington Post, Miss Gadde said that running Twitter required constant vigilance but that the company had ‘failed to live up to’ this aim. She admitted that ‘our response times have been inexcusably slow and the substance of our responses too meagre’. Miss Gadde wrote: ‘This is, to put it mildly, not good enough. ‘Freedom of expression means little as our underlying philosophy if we continue to allow voices to be silenced because they are afraid to speak up. We need to do a better job combating abuse without chilling or silencing speech’. Miss Gadde, general counsel for Twitter, said the extra staff the company had hired meant it was responding to five times as many complaints about abuse. The company was also making other changes ‘in ways that won’t be readily apparent’ to ensure its 284million users worldwide are safe. Only last week TV host Sue Perkins quit Twitter after receiving death threats. Sanctuary for trolls: A study found that 88 per cent of abusive behaviour on social media happens on Twitter .
target: Vijaya Gadde said social network had let internet abuse go 'unchecked'
  She claims it is because scope and scale of problem was not recognised .
  Twitter has tripled the size of team that deals with online abuse, she said .
  Anti-bullying campaigners long complained Twitter is sanctuary for trolls .