Twitter announces two new tools to tackle harassment and abuse
Twitter has unveiled two new features aimed at curbing harassment and abuse.
The microblogging platform announced the features on its blog.
Stopping short of strong features to ban or otherwise punish users who harass or abuse other users on the platform, the two new features allow users to limit the accounts from which they receive notifications.
The first lets users limit notifications both on desktop and mobile to the accounts which they follow.
In addition, Twitter also announced a quality filter.
On the blog the announcement reads: “The filter can improve the quality of Tweets you see by using a variety of signals, such as account origin and behavior. Turning it on filters lower-quality content, like duplicate Tweets or content that appears to be automated, from your notifications and other parts of your Twitter experience. It does not filter content from people you follow or accounts you’ve recently interacted with – and depending on your preferences, you can turn it on or off in your notifications settings.”
Verified users have had similar filters and options for some time.
Some have already questioned how effectively the filter will tackle the problem of non-spam accounts which harass or abuse other users.
Twitter has faced calls to ramp up its abuse reporting system for some years, but these changes don’t change the system already in place.
Twitter earlier this year announced that it was taking a harder line on hate speech – after updating its rules to reaffirm a ban on homophobia and other bigotry.
The social network has long been candid about its issues dealing with anonymous abuse, with many complaining it has become a breeding ground for racist, misogynistic and homophobic trolls.
