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Twitter may finally have a solution to its troll epidemic

The company is reportedly working on a tool to let people filter out offensive tweets.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials
  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
Roger Cheng
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Jaap Arriens, NurPhoto via Getty Images

Twitter can be a powerful feed of real-time information. It can also be a cesspool filled with the worst the internet has to offer.

The company isn't just wrinkling its nose at the latter. Instead, according to Bloomberg, it's working on a tool that lets people filter out offensive and harassing tweets based on keywords. By selecting the right words, users should be able to block profanity and racial slurs or screen out offenders.

Twitter has come under criticism for its inability to balance the ability to let anyone say anything with the ugly rhetoric that weighs it down. Twitter users pummeled "Ghostbusters" star Leslie Jones with a series of racist and sexist attacks, and singer Adele briefly quit Twitter after seeing disturbing comments about her newborn baby.

Twitter declined to comment.