A significant change is coming to X, and it affects one of its key privacy controls. Elon Musk recently announced that users will no longer be able to completely block other people. Instead, the new system introduces a partial blocking mechanism, limiting interactions but allowing visibility of posts.
According to the declaration from Musk, the individuals who were blocked will continue to be able to see messages from public accounts. However, they will not be allowed to interact with the content in any way - whether through likes, comments, reposts or quotes.
On the other hand, for private accounts, blocking will continue to be fully effectivepreventing access to any content or the profile itself.
Previously, the platform offered a full block feature, meaning that a blocked user was prevented from viewing the entire account, including replies to other users and the profile's follower list. If someone tried to visit a profile that had blocked them, a notification would indicate that the user had restricted access.
High time this happened.
The block function will block that account from engaging with, but not block seeing, public post.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 23, 2024
Musk disputes the need for a full X lockdown
Elon Musk expressed skepticism about the need for this feature on public profiles. In a response shared with The VergeX justified the change by pointing out that users could bypass a block simply by logging out or using a different account to view public content.
However, in practice, closing the session does not allow access to profiles, since X now requires users to log in to view certain accounts.
This isn’t the first time Musk has expressed concern about the platform’s blocking feature. He has previously argued that the “mute” button, which prevents users from seeing content but allows them to remain followers, is a sufficient alternative. The X CEO has even floated the idea of eliminating the blocking feature altogether, with the exception of blocking direct messages.
The update follows a series of controversial decisions made by Musk since acquiring the social media giant. One of the most recent changes involved removing the ability to see who liked a post, leaving users to see only the total number of likes without details about individual users.
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Source: pplware.sapo.pt
