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.