Reddit arms users with new troll-blocking tools

Reddit is cracking down on trolls by improving its anti-bullying measures.

Users of the social forum, which is notorious for attracting antagonistic and aggressive people, can now try the 'Block User' feature to stop any interactions with people they would prefer to avoid.

A Reddit engineer, known as KeyserSosa, explained that Reddit has had a block feature for sometime, but it only applied to private messages between users.

The new tool works more broadly, blocking the offending user's public and private messages from a person's view. The harasser is also not notified that they have been blocked.

Clicking the Block User button while viewing a reply in your inbox will remove the profile of the blocked user, along with all their comments, posts, and messages. And you will no longer be alerted if they message you further.

"Our changes to user blocking are intended to let you decide what your boundaries are, and to give you the option to choose what you want or don't want to be exposed to," said KeyserSosa.

Harassment and bullying have been widespread problems on Reddit, so much so that the site introduced a new ethics policy to try and curb rampant levels of harassment across its communities last year.