7 April, 2016, USA: In order to tighten up its screws and to enable its users to curb harassment, Reddit has unveiled its new blocking feature. As reported by New York Times, the tool is a new step in automating the regulation of the websiteās more unruly sectors while keeping users safe.
Explaining about the new feature, Chris Slowe, Engineer, Reddit said, āAlthough blocking individual users from sending personal messages was available in a very basic form, the new tool functions similarly to Twitterās block function: When you block a user, you will neither be notified of or see any content directed at you, including comments and replies. Blocks arenāt visible by the blocked, so thereās no risk of retaliation.ā
āIn general, we prefer to encourage the use of the downvote arrow for bad comments, and leave user-blocking for true harassment scenarios,ā said company.
Compared to other social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, Redditās laid-back approach to conversation has developed into a precious attitude toward free speech. Of course, itās hard to tell what a ātrue harassment scenarioā would look like ā especially considering the company itself has admitted to difficulty curbing toxic trolling on the site, reported thenextweb.