Elon Musk states that Twitter’s now X’s) blocking feature will be removed.
Elon Musk, CEO of X (formerly Twitter), has declared the removal of the blocking feature, citing its lack of coherence. While users can still block direct messages, this decision has prompted concerns on social media platforms that it will hinder the removal of abusive posts from timelines. This alteration is part of a series of modifications made by Musk since his $44 billion acquisition of the site last year.
Presently, when a user “blocks” an account, it prevents that account’s posts from appearing on the blocker’s timeline, and vice versa. Additionally, a blocked account is unable to send messages or view the blocker’s posts. Former Twitter founder Jack Dorsey appeared to support Musk’s choice, stating, “100%. Mute only.”
However, apprehensions have emerged regarding whether muting an account would adequately safeguard users from harassment, abuse, or stalking. Currently, the mute function only halts notifications about an account’s posts, allowing the muted account to still view and reply to the muter’s posts.
Critics have labelled Musk’s decision a “significant error,” emphasising the presence of “toxic individuals” on the platform with whom users desire zero interaction.
The removal of the blocking feature potentially raises concerns about the compliance of Apple’s App Store and Google Play terms and conditions. Both stores stipulate that social media applications should offer tools enabling users to filter out harassment or bullying. This alteration might lead to X being excluded from download on these platforms.
Should this policy move forward, it remains uncertain whether all blocked accounts will automatically be unblocked. Users, however, have the alternative of rendering their accounts private, restricting their tweets to accepted followers only.
Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest individual, has orchestrated various changes following his acquisition of the social media platform, which encompass the dismissal of the company’s top executive team and the introduction of a fee for the platform’s “blue tick” verification feature.
