Twitter Removes Word Filtering Feature After Accidentally Releasing It Early

The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Jack Hadfield

Twitter rolled back the release of its “muted words” feature after it was accidentally released too early. A number of iOS users spotted the new feature available in their settings, allowing them to enter certain keywords or hashtags to keep tweets containing them from showing up on their timeline.

A similar feature is already available on Gab, the free-speech oriented social network.

TheNextWeb reported that a “trusted source” informed them that the feature was released accidentally. The source went on to mention that the feature would likely be available in future versions of the app.

From these screenshots, the feature looks to be included under the notifications menu, next to the “quality filter”; an earlier attempt by Twitter to remove so-called “harassment” from their platform.

The feature is currently up and running on Gab and has been since the beginning of the new social network. Andrew Torba, founder and CEO of Gab, told Breitbart News in September that “instead of ‘big brother social’ knowing best, Gab places the onus on the user to create their own experience and filter out people, words or topics they do not want to see on Gab. We will continue to put people first and promote free speech and expression online for all.”

Torba expanded on this in a press release this weekend:

Today at Gab AI Inc, a people first pro-free speech social network, we were particularly amused to discover that our competitor at Twitter is tinkering around with the concept of user-controlled self-censorship — a tool that has been the staple of our platform, since its inception from the beginning of August.

Our platform has been consistent from the very beginning — we believe in the power of choice and the ability of users to make responsible decisions for themselves.
By giving individuals the option to filter content, selecting what they want to read and don’t want to read, we send a strong message to the online community of the world — the masses should not be infantilized and told how to think. This is goes against the heart of customer service and indeed, free speech.
Here at Gab we will never arbitrarily ban our users for holding the “wrong” political views or expressing themselves. We will always empower them, giving them the freedom to choose and putting them first at all times.

Last week, Twitter announced it was shutting down its video-sharing platform Vine and laying off 9% of its staff.

Jack Hadfield is a student at the University of Warwick and a regular contributor to Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @ToryBastard_, on Gab @JH or email him at jack@yiannopoulos.net.

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