A web developer has revealed that X is planning on making changes to its Block functionality, which means that blocked users will be able to see public posts though not respond.
The move was immediately confirmed by the social media platform’s irascible owner, Elon Musk, who posted “High time this happened.”
In a relatively constrained post – compared to his feverish and constant attacks on Kamala Harris – Musk gave his support to the move and didn’t clap back at dissenters (yet).
Changes to the Way Block Works on X
While some media outlets are reporting that X is completely getting rid of the Block option, this is not the case. As Musk himself explained in a post: “The block function will block that account from engaging with, but not block seeing, public post.”
At the moment, if you have been blocked from an account, you will get a “You’re blocked” message pop-up on screen if you try and view their profile image; see their followers and following list; replies and media. When the change is in place, blocked users will be able to see all of the above.
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Musk Want to Get Rid of Block Feature
But this move doesn’t go far enough for Musk who posted in August that he would like to see the Block option mothballed. He posted that it “makes no sense” and “needs to be deprecated in favor of a stronger form of mute.”
Musk argues that users can just create an anonymous account to see posts from an account that has blocked them or can also view when logged out. However, the team at The Verge says that the latter is not true. They wrote: “Several of us at The Verge have noticed that X actually prevents you from viewing someone’s profile if you’re logged out.”
Waves of Abuse on X
The change is already causing concern not least because the platform has been slammed as a hotbed of misinformation and hatred since Musk took over. One study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate found that shortly after Musk’s takeover, use of homophobic and racist slang rapidly spiked.
Users are taking to X to disagree with the tech billionaire for this very reason. They argue that the Block function does make sense as both protection and empowerment. One user wrote: It makes a ton of sense. Let[’s] people control their feed and what abuse they are willing to take.” Another user wrote: “I don’t want the creeps I’ve blocked seeing my posts at all.”
There isn’t an update on when the changes will come into effect as yet, which might give someone time to count how many X users have blocked Elon Musk.
