Twitter is making some changes which the platform says are to ensure “the issue of safety is addressed from every angle.” The changes include stopping the creation of “abusive” accounts, creating a “safe search” that removes “sensitive content” and “collapsing” abusive and low-quality replies.
“Making Twitter a safer place is our primary focus,” Ed Ho, the VP of Engineering at Twitter said in a blog post. “We stand for freedom of expression and people being able to see all sides of any topic. That’s put in jeopardy when abuse and harassment stifle and silence those voices. We won’t tolerate it and we’re launching new efforts to stop it.”
Ho says the recent changes are a continuation on work that began in November 2016, which is aiming to give people more control over what they see on Twitter.
“Last week, we introduced an improvement to reporting abusive Tweets that gives people experiencing targeted harassment more ways to report it,” Ho said. “today, we’re announcing three changes: stopping the creation of new abusive accounts, bringing forward safer search results, and collapsing potentially abusive or low-quality Tweets.”
Here’s how, according to Twitter:
Stopping the creation of new abusive accounts:
We’re taking steps to identify people who have been permanently suspended and stop them from creating new accounts. This focuses more effectively on some of the most prevalent and damaging forms of behaviour, particularly accounts that are created only to abuse and harass others.
Introducing safer search results:
We’re also working on ‘safe search’ which removes Tweets that contain potentially sensitive content and Tweets from blocked and muted accounts from search results. While this type of content will be discoverable if you want to find it, it won’t clutter search results any longer.
Collapsing potentially abusive or low-quality Tweets:
Our team has also been working on identifying and collapsing potentially abusive and low-quality replies so the most relevant conversations are brought forward. These Tweet replies will still be accessible to those who seek them out. You can expect to see this change rolling out in the coming weeks.
Twitter says it will continue to roll out changes in the days and weeks ahead.
“Some changes will be visible and some less so – and will update you on progress every step of the way.”