The Washington Post has this story:

Twitter is testing a host of new features the social network says will boost user safety on the platform, but free speech advocates warn that the tools could be easily exploited by government officials to suppress dissent and limit access to their remarks online.

The rollouts include a “safety mode” tool that when enabled automatically detects and temporarily blocks accounts hurling insults or other “harmful language” at users to “reduce the burden on people dealing with unwelcome interactions.” The company said Friday it’s also testing a setting that lets users automatically “filter” or “limit” unwanted and harmful replies.

It’s Twitter’s latest effort to curb rampant harassment between users on its site, which has long been a criticism of the platform and its peers. The company is rolling out the features to a smaller group of users before making them available more broadly. 

But any tool that filters harmful or violent speech can also capture constitutionally protected dissent. The company says it’s aware the features could be used by government leaders to stifle opposing viewpoints, and so it’s excluding politicians initially from tests.

Legal experts argue the automated tools could be abused by political leaders to more easily silence critics and bar them from reacting to and viewing their public comments, which would infringe on those users’ First Amendment rights.

“If a public official is using their account as a public forum, then they can’t block comments or users from engaging in constitutionally protected speech in that forum, even if it’s convenient to do so using one of these tools,” said Alex Abdo, litigation director at the Knight First Amendment Institute, an organization that advocates for free speech online.

Kate Ruane, senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the safety feature “could be a really good thing for most Twitter users.” But if used by political leaders acting in their public capacities, it would raise serious constitutional concerns, she said.