Twitter will be improving its mute and block tools as well as cracking down on repeat offenders by rolling out new “anti-harassment” tools this week.

It is not clear precisely what form many of these changes will take as yet, but CEO Jack Dorsey promised to engage with users in “real-time dialogue” throughout every step of the process. The move may be fueled in large part by a failed sale of the business last year, with many buyers turned off by rampant abuse on the platform.

For years, Twitter has been criticised for not doing enough to tackle the harassment problem rife on the social network. This week, it is facing the issue head on.

In a series of tweets Ed Ho, Twitter’s vice president of engineering, said there will be a number of “long overdue fixes” to the website. The changes will be implemented this week, he said.

“Making Twitter a safer place is our primary focus and we are now moving with more urgency than ever,” Ho said in a post. “We heard you, we didn’t move fast enough last year; now we’re thinking about progress in days and hours not weeks and months.”

Some of the changes will not be seen by those using Twitter, Ho says, but others will be fairly obvious. Initially, the changes will focus on the mute and block features. Repeat offenders will also be prevented from creating new accounts after being suspended.

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