Twitter rolls out 'Safety mode' for a small group. Know what's the feature all about

Twitter and other social media platforms often face criticism for not doing enough to address harassment and hate speech, especially against women and minorities.

Twitter is rolling out the ‘Safety mode’ feature that aims to reduce disruptive interactions by temporarily blocking accounts for seven days for using harmful language or sending uninvited replies. On Wednesday, the social media company said that their system will assess the “likelihood of a negative engagement” by analysing the tweet’s content and the relationship between the author of the tweet and those who reply to it.

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“Our technology takes existing relationships into account, so accounts you follow or frequently interact with will not be autoblocked,” a Twitter executive wrote in a blog post.

The autoblocked accounts won’t be able to follow the tweet author account, see their tweets, or send them direct messages for seven days. Twitter said that it is rolling out the feature to a small group on iOS, Android, and the website Twitter.com, starting today with accounts that have English-language settings enabled.

Twitter said that it is rolling out the feature to a small group on iOS, Android, and the website Twitter.com, starting today. (Twitter)

The latest feature will be available to the select group select under the ‘Privacy and safety’ section. Twitter users can click on the toggle button of ‘Safety mode’ to enable the feature.

The users will receive a notification before each Safety Mode period ends, recapping the information. They will be able to see and undo autoblocks in their Settings at any time. Twitter said that they will regularly monitor the accuracy of the feature to “make improvements to our detection capabilities.”

Twitter and other social media platforms often face criticism for not doing enough to address harassment and hate speech, especially against women and minorities.

“We want you to enjoy healthy conversations, so this test is one way we're limiting overwhelming and unwelcome interactions that can interrupt those conversations,” the company said.