Robin Williams dead: Twitter vows to 'better handle tragic situations' after Zelda Rae Williams quits social platform over trolling

Twitter has confirmed that it will actively look to improve its policies to handle tragic situations – like the suicide of Robin Williams – after his daughter Zelda Rae was forced to quit the social networking site because of trolling.

“We will not tolerate abuse of this nature on Twitter,” Del Harvey, head of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Team, said in a statement.

“We have suspended a number of accounts related to this issue for violating our rules and we are in the process of evaluating how we can further improve our policies to better handle tragic situations like this one.

“This includes expanding our policies regarding self-harm and private information, and improving support for family members of deceased users.”

Their policies come after the introduction of a one-click button to report abusive behaviour was enabled for users in 2013.

Williams said she intended to delete the Twitter app from her devices “for a good long time, maybe forever,” after several users sent her extremely graphic, Photoshopped images of her father.

The 25-year-old actress also left her Instagram account dormant.

“I will be leaving this account ... while I heal and decide if I'll be deleting it or not,” she wrote in a caption. “In this difficult time, please try to be respectful of the accounts of myself, my family and my friends.”