Twitter Is Launching an Offensive Tweet Filter to Give Your Block Button a Rest

Twitter is trying to suck less at dealing with harassment, and their newest move may be the biggest game-changer yet. The company is rolling out a new feature that will automatically block “offensive” tweets from your notifications timeline to filter out harassment.

So far, the new update has only gone out to verified users, but we hope it’ll be available to the general public soon. Just think of all the good we’ll be able to do in the world with the time we currently spend dealing with jerks on Twitter! I’ll be eagerly awaiting our inevitable utopia.

Here’s a look at what select Twitter users currently have the option to opt into:

Well, that’s an interesting & welcome addition, Twitter! (Was prompted about this on opening the app.) pic.twitter.com/Ka2VDvqwNf

— Anil Dash (@anildash) March 23, 2015

No doubt we’ll hear cries of censorship and echo chambers, but this new filter is a great way for people who regularly receive abusive tweets to make their online lives more enjoyable. Of course, filters aren’t perfect, and without a detailed announcement by Twitter, it’s unclear just how the filter decides what tweets are abusive.

Still, it’s likely that anyone with a real need for such a filter won’t be bothered if a few innocent tweets from strangers don’t make it through—especially since tweets from people you follow likely bypass the filter automatically. After all, freedom of speech doesn’t guarantee a right to force anyone to listen to the things you’re saying, trolls, and it seems that soon Twitter won’t, either.

(via Yahoo and Ars Technica)

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