Twitter tries to address hate speech issue with new user tools

Illustration picture (REUTERS/Kacper Pempel).

Twitter is responding to complaints they don't do enough to curb hate speech on the social media platform by introducing new tools for users. Twitter users can now report "hateful conduct" as a separate option, and users can also mute certain words, phrases, emojis and even whole conversations. Notifications can also be filtered.

Hate speech on Twitter became more of an issue during the recent presidential election, and while Twitter has said they don't measure offensive material on the service, many users have said they've noticed a marked uptick in bias attacks and hate speech. Twitter said it doesn't expect the new rules and tools to wipe out hate speech completely and that they will deploy new tools going forward, so users can better control what they see on the social platform.

WhatsApp locks in video call encryption -- for now

Speaking of social networks, WhatsApp, the chat app used by more than a billion people, has activated a new feature for all users: video calling. Big deal right? Well here's the thing: WhatsApp video calls will be fully encrypted end to end, just like their regular non-video messaging service.

However: WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, and a new WhatsApp privacy policy also includes a reversal of sorts: Facebook will now receive WhatsApp data, including who you call and their phone number. No message data will be retained, according to Facebook. In the U.S. and worldwide, social and messaging app users are waiting to see what kind of policy the Trump administration will have on data collection.

U.S. law enforcement agencies aren't fans of encryption technologies, so we'll have to see if WhatsApp's coded transmissions will remain secure, or if new laws will require Facebook to allow government agencies to listen in.

Or you could buy a few Apple TVs

Got an Apple fan on your holiday gift list and they already have an iMac, iPhone, Apple Watch, iPod, Apple TV, and a framed photo of Saint Steve? Well, do we have a gift idea for you.

For just $300 you can give them a new coffee table book -- from Apple -- detailing Apple's design legacy. It's called Designed by Apple in California. Inside are 450 glossy photos of Apple products -- including their internals -- from the last 20 years, which is the approximate time Jony Ive and his team have been coming up with what are arguably some of the greatest industrial designs for tech gear in history.

The book is dedicated to Steve Jobs and if $300 is cutting a bit too deeply into your iPhone 8 savings plan, there's also a smaller version of the book for just… $200.