Facepalm: Elon Musk is making a major change to the way blocking works on his former Twitter platform, X. The billionaire owner has announced that once the change is implemented, those who you have blocked will be able to see your public posts – they just won't be able to interact with you.
Traditionally, blocking someone on X/Twitter means they cannot access your account to see posts, leave comments, etc. But Musk has never been a fan of this method, and is now changing it.
"High time this happened," he replied to a post from Nima Owji that revealed the news. "The block function will block that account from engaging with, but not block seeing, public post."
High time this happened.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 23, 2024
The block function will block that account from engaging with, but not block seeing, public post.
A source from X told The Verge that the reason for the change was that people can already see posts from users who have blocked them – all they have to do is use another account or log out.
Musk has talked about making changes to the block function in the past. He said last year that it "makes no sense" and that "it needs to be deprecated in favor of a stronger form of mute." He also said X would remove the block option altogether, except for when used with direct messages.
Responses to the news has been almost entirely negative. Several people have pointed out that people block accounts for safety and security reasons, especially when it comes to women being harassed by stalkers.
It's not clear when the change will be implemented, though some users say it has already come into effect for them.
Musk's announcement follows reports that X has seen a significant decline in users in both the US and UK in recent months.
We are making changes to how block works.
– Engineering (@XEng) May 2, 2024
If a user who has blocked you replies to one of your posts, you will now be able to see their reply. This change enables you to identify and report any potential bad content that you previously could not view, safeguarding both your…
X's Engineering account said in May that it was making changes to how the block feature would work: If a person replied to a post of someone they had blocked, that person would now be able to see the reply. X said this would allow people to identify and report any potential bad content that they previously could not view. The company claimed the move was part of its commitment to "aligning the block feature with our principles as a public town square." It never said when the change would roll out.
Masthead: Alexander Shatov