Twitter tests new anti-abuse measures

The newest product update from Twitter in relation to their anti-abuse campaign focuses on blocking and muting users on the platform.

The social network came up with this decision after receiving feedback from the safety community. Once you update your app or visit the website, you will only receive notifications from those you follow. However, searching your own username will let you see all the mentions you have, whether you muted the user or not. Twitter announced that users will still be able to get notifications, if they are mentioned in a thread by individuals they follow. Twitter wrote on its support page that if an account you do not directly follow starts a conversation with you, the platform will no longer notify you.

Twitter emphasized that blocking is different from muting a user. Blocking a user will prevent you from viewing their tweets and vice versa. Muting, on the other hand, literally turns off the notifications for their tweets. Still, the muted user can still see your tweets. If you opt to mute users whom you feel are abusive in terms of tweeting or posting irresponsible content, you will no longer see their tweets anymore.

This anti-abuse update came after the social network announced its intention to make amends for failing to mitigate abuse online. Twitter wanted to eradicate this issue by putting abusive users in a “Time Out” to emphasize their seriousness about their anti-abuse campaign, while still upholding the right to practice freedom of speech within reason.