NEW YORK -- Twitter (TWTR.N) is adding more tools to curb abuse on its service as part of its ongoing effort to protect users from hate and harassment.

It is the second time in three weeks the company has released new ways to root out abusive content. It's a sign Twitter is getting more serious about the issue; it's faced criticism for not doing more in the decade since its founding.

Twitter said Wednesday that it's working to identify accounts engaging in abusive behaviour even if no one has reported them. Previously, abuse had to be reported for Twitter to do anything.

Twitter will place restrictions on accounts that repeatedly engage in abusive behaviour. For example, tweets from such accounts will be visible only to followers or other users who deliberately search them out.