Twitter Is Working On Anti-Harassment Keyword Filtering Tool, Says Report (bloomberg.com)

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has made it a top priority for company to limit hateful conduct. In late December 2015, for example, the company changed its rules to explicitly ban "hateful conduct" for the first time. A new report says Twitter is working to further curb the rise of hateful conduct as it is "working on a keyword-based tool that will let people filter the posts they see, giving users a more effective way to block out harassing and offensive tweets." Bloomberg reports: "The San Francisco-based company has been discussing how to implement the tool for about a year as it seeks to stem abuse on the site, said the people [familiar with the matter], who asked not to be identified because the initiative isn't public. By using keywords, users could block swear words or racial slurs, for example, to screen out offenders. The filtering tool could eventually become a moderator for any kind of content, the people said. For example, users could block a hashtag about an event they don't care to read about."

Comments

Re: it'll still be political

[serviscope_minor]

There are already three tools for filtering: (1) block, (2) mute,

Except we both know those are ineffective against harassment swarms.

(3) don't bother logging in.

So the only option is currently to let a bunch of assholes bully you off the site so you can no longer engage in the conversations you actually want to engage with.

I seriously do not understand why you object to people having control over their own feed. It's almost like you think you should be able to either force your opinions on them or force them off the site.

Are you fucking serious? Twitter is a public platform.

Yes I am serious. Being in public is also in public. Just because something is in public does not give you some sort of moral right to be an asshole without consequences. If some people are having a conversation on a park bench, they can't stop you joining the conversation without leaving. If you do that and the only way to make you stop is to leave then congratulations, you're a major asshole.

People on twitter having public conversations is not all that dissimilar to having a conversation in public. If you keep butting in on people's feeds o the point where they leave twitter, then congratulations, you're a major asshole.

Simply existing in public does not give every jerk with an axe to grind some sort of ethical free pass on being a dickhead.

Oh and if not being enabled to be a massive dickhead by twitter actually hampers you in any way, then you really, really need to reconsider your life.