Twitter adds protection for users with shared block list feature

Twitter is now making it harder for spammers and stalkers to harass users with a new feature that allows users to share their blocked lists.

In a blog post, Twitter engineer for user safety Xiaoyun Zhang said the new advanced feature will allow fast and easy blocking of multiple accounts.

"(W)e also recognize that some users — those who experience high volumes of unwanted interactions on Twitter — need more sophisticated tools. That’s where this new feature comes in. You can now export and share your block lists with people in your community facing similar issues or import another user’s list into your own account and block multiple accounts all at once, instead of blocking them individually," Zhang said.

Zhang added this is in addition to the earlier Twitter tools that let users mute and block unwanted messages.

Such advanced blocking tools may prove useful to the developer community "to further improve users’ experience," Zhang added.

A user may export or import a list of blocked accounts by navigating to the blocked accounts settings on twitter.com.

The user may click on the advanced options drop-down menu and select the action he or she wants to take.

Last December, Twitter launched the blocked accounts settings page and tightened the rules such that blocked accounts cannot view a user's profile.

Zhang said this feature "is yet another step towards making Twitter safer for everyone and will be available to some of our users starting today and all users in the coming weeks."

Minimizing hateful content

A separate report on PC World said that while the blocking tool does not remove hateful content, it "seeks to deaden its effect among targeted users."

"If a user blocks another account, that account holder can’t follow the user, send direct messages, or view the user’s tweets or other content when the account holder is logged in. The user of the blocking tool does not receive notifications when the blocked account holder mentions the user," it added.  — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News