Twitter launches 'safety mode' to block accounts for harmful language

Twitter will launch a safety feature that would allow users to temporarily block accounts for seven days for using harmful language or sending uninvited replies, the company said Wednesday.

Twitter will launch a safety feature that would allow users to temporarily block accounts for seven days for using harmful language or sending uninvited replies, the company said Wednesday. (Dado Ruvic, Reuters)


Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter will launch a safety feature that would allow users to temporarily block accounts for seven days for using harmful language or sending uninvited replies, the social media platform said on Wednesday.

Once the Safety Mode is turned on, Twitter's systems will check the tweet content to assess the likelihood of a negative engagement and the relationship between the author and the replier.

Accounts frequently interacted with will not be auto-blocked, the company said, as it takes existing relationships into account.

Twitter has earlier taken several steps to address harassment on its site, which often occurs in unsolicited replies targeting women and minorities.

"We want people on Twitter to enjoy healthy conversations, so we're limiting overwhelming and unwelcome interactions that can interrupt those conversations," the company said.

Safety Mode can be turned on under settings and will be available to a small feedback group on iOS, Android and Twitter.com, beginning with accounts that have English-language settings enabled, Twitter said.

Most recent Science stories

Related topics

Nivedita Balu

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
    Newsletter Signup

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button