Twitter finally empowers users to block trolling

Twitter announced it is taking steps to combat users’ exposure to abusive content -- making it the latest major tech company to roll out big post-election changes seeking to address various forms of trolling.

The company announced in a blog post Monday it is altering its “mute” feature, which already allowed users to silence accounts they don’t want to see. Now, users will be able to block specific content from appearing in their notifications section, where they’re alerted about likes, comments, mentions and other incoming interactions.

“We’re enabling you to mute keywords, phrases, and even entire conversations you don’t want to see notifications about, rolling out to everyone in the coming days,” Twitter wrote in its blog post. “This is a feature we’ve heard many of you ask for, and we’re going to keep listening to make it better and more comprehensive over time.”

Twitter says in its hateful conduct policy that the company doesn’t tolerate behavior that intimidates, harasses or uses fear to silence voices. “You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease,” the policy says. “We also do not allow accounts whose primary purpose is inciting harm towards others on the basis of these categories.”

But Twitter acknowledged on Monday that it has had “some challenges keeping up with and curbing abusive conduct” -- a problem that has long existed. In an internal memo The Verge acquired early last year, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said, “We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we’ve sucked at it for years.” It also revised its rules of conduct last year to emphasize it prohibits violent and abusive behavior.

:story: CBS News