X (Twitter) is making a change to one of the most important privacy features on its platform. From now on, users will not be able to fully block a contact; instead, they will only be able to block them partially, as confirmed by Elon Musk in a post.
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Musk states that blocked users will still be able to see the posts from that account, as long as the account is public. However, they will not be able to interact in any way. This means they can only view or read the content, but cannot reply, retweet, quote, or like the posts. For private accounts, once a user is blocked, they will have no access to that profile at all.
Until now, X (Twitter) allowed users to completely block another user, preventing them from seeing any posts, including replies to other posts or the list of followers and followed accounts. In fact, when a blocked person tried to access an account, a message would appear indicating that they had been blocked.
High time this happened.
The block function will stop that account from engaging with public posts but will not prevent them from seeing them.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 23, 2024
Elon Musk believes the blocking function on X (Twitter) does not make sense.
In a statement to The Verge, X (Twitter) claimed that the blocking function for public accounts doesn’t make sense because users can view that person’s profile from another account or even by logging out of the platform. However, this last option isn’t actually possible, as X requires users to log in before viewing a profile.
This isn’t the first time Musk has commented on the blocking function on X. A few months ago, he stated that the block button is unnecessary since there is already a mute option that serves a similar purpose, although it is less restrictive. The owner of the social network even considered the possibility of completely removing the block feature and only allowing users to block direct messages.
This is not the only controversial change Elon Musk has made since acquiring the platform formerly known as Twitter. The executive recently removed the option to see who liked a post, allowing only the total number of likes to be displayed.