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| Twitter brings safe mode to millions of users |
Twitter is expanding access to a feature called Safety Mode, which aims to give users a set of tools to guard against abuse, which often remains an issue on its platform.
Safe Mode was first introduced to a small group of testers last September. Safe Mode is now rolling out in beta to more users in English-speaking markets including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.
The company says the expanded coverage allows it to gather more information about how the security model works and what improvements it still needs to make. In addition to its roll out, safe mode requires users to turn it on when needed, Twitter noted.
Twitter as a public social platform faces an ongoing battle over credibility in conversations. Several changes and updates have been made over the years to address this issue.
This includes the ability to automatically hide abusive responses after additional clicks. Let users decide who can reply to their tweets. and allow users to hide from searches. Warn the user that the conversation is getting out of control, etc.
But safe mode is more a defensive tool than one designed to proactively steer the conversation in the right direction.
This feature works by automatically blocking accounts for 7 days for responding to the original publisher in malicious language or sending unwanted and repetitive responses such as insults, hateful comments or mentions.
While in safe mode, those blocked accounts will not be able to follow the original publisher's Twitter account, view their tweets and replies, or send them private messages.
Twitter launches beta feature in September
Twitter's algorithms determine which accounts should be suspended by evaluating the language used in responses and examining the relationship between the tweeter and the respondent.
If the person who Tweeted frequently follows or interacts with the person who replied to the Tweet, the account will not be suspended.
The idea is to allow attacking users to build defenses without having to manually block every harassed account.
It happens to celebrities, public figures, journalists, members of marginalized communities, and sometimes just ordinary people.
This is not a specific issue of Twitter. Instagram rolled out a similar set of anti-abuse features last year.
This comes after several English footballers were harassed by fans after their team's defeat in the Euro 2020 final.
Based on feedback from early testers, Twitter has learned that people need more help determining when an attack might occur.
As a result, the company prompts users to turn it on when the system detects a potentially malicious or unwanted response.
These prompts can appear in the user's main timeline or as notifications from a mobile device. This should help users avoid diving into their Twitter settings to target the feature.
Safe mode was already tested with 750 users on the first try. The beta is now being rolled out to nearly 50% of users (selected at random) in supported markets.
Twitter said it is studying how these users can provide feedback directly in the app. The platform has not been shared when it plans to make safe mode universal for users around the world.