Twitter CEO Dick Costolo says he's going to do something about the abusive trolls plaguing the social network.

In a private memo obtained by The Verge, Costolo took full responsibility for the problem.

"We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we've sucked at it for years," wrote Costolo. "I take full responsibility for not being more aggressive on this front. It's nobody else's fault but mine, and it's embarrassing."

Twitter makes a big deal of how the service frequently finds itself at the center of revolutions or world-changing events, such as the Arab Spring. However, it's also been at the center of some less aspirational moments. Last year, Robin Williams' daughter Zelda received so much abuse after his death that she quit Twitter. In 2014, we also saw women being driven from their homes in the wake of GamerGate, which wasn't about ethics in video games journalism, but was about using social networks like Twitter to terrorize women.

This negative attention, and the concerns over users quitting the service out of frustration, prompted Twitter to improve its abuse reporting system late last year. That's a good start, but it's clear from Costolo's comments that he wants to do more. What form that will take, we don't know--though perhaps Twitter's fourth quarter earnings call this evening will shed further light on the topic. While Twitter's CEO talked a big game in these internal memos, he has yet to make a public statement about the issue.

What's New Now is PCMag's daily news digest that outlines the hottest tech news story of the day and what it means to you. Check back every day to get your dose of news and expert analysis of the technology topics that matter most.

Watch this episode and more in our What's New Now playlist.

Subscribe for daily updates, and follow PCMag on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.