Twitter Rolls Out Feature That Will Automatically Block Accounts for ‘Harassing Behavior or Harmful Language’

 

Twitter is launching a new “safety mode” feature that will temporarily automatically block accounts for “potentially harassing behavior or harmful language.”

The platform announced the newest method of censorship in a blog post on Wednesday.

A test group of English speaking users now have access to Safety Mode.

“Unwelcome Tweets and noise can get in the way of conversations on Twitter, so we’re introducing Safety Mode, a new feature that aims to reduce disruptive interactions. Starting today, we’re rolling out this safety feature to a small feedback group on iOS, Android, and Twitter.com, beginning with accounts that have English-language settings enabled,” the post said.

The feature will temporarily block people for seven days for “hateful remarks” or “insults.”

“Safety Mode is a feature that temporarily blocks accounts for seven days for using potentially harmful language — such as insults or hateful remarks — or sending repetitive and uninvited replies or mentions. When the feature is turned on in your Settings, our systems will assess the likelihood of a negative engagement by considering both the Tweet’s content and the relationship between the Tweet author and replier,” the post said. “Our technology takes existing relationships into account, so accounts you follow or frequently interact with will not be autoblocked.”