So if you have an X account you will no longer be able to block others.
The blocking feature will be removed for users of X, formerly Twitter, Elon Musk has announced, claiming the feature “makes no sense”.
The X boss said users will still be able to block people from directly messaging them, however.
But many people on social media said it will make it hard for people to remove abusive posts from their timeline.
It is the latest in a series of changes Mr Musk has made since taking over the site in a $44bn deal last year.
Currently, when users “block” an account, it stops that account’s posts from appearing in the blocker’s timeline, and vice versa.
An account that is blocked can no longer send messages to the blocker, nor can it view their posts.
I’ve heard people complain that this is censoring, but it isn’t. When you block someone as I can do here, it simply means that you are choosing not to listen. Free speech means that you have the right to speak, it doesn’t mean you have a right to a specific audience and if people would rather not listen, they have the right to put their hands over their ears.
Sure, there are blurry lines and Twitter, as was, crossed those lines under its previous ownership with account cancellation and shadow banning based on political views, but this is not what we are talking about here. This is the right of an individual to switch off from others if they so choose. And, as we all know from previous experience here – there are some obsessives out there and the only way to deal with them is to block them. The new feature will make that more difficult and an online stalker will still have access to the victim. The only option is to delete the account – or, as in my case, not bother in the first place.
One user called Mr Musk’s decision a “huge mistake”, saying there are “toxic people” on the platform whom users simply did not want to interact with in any way.
In a nutshell, yes.
I am vaguely amused by the notion that Richard Murphy blocked 20,000 users on Twitter and they will all now be able to post on his timeline… however despite a certainnschadenfreude agree with you this isn’t something to celebrate..
That’s the inverse argument I’m seeing a lot. If you spout nonsense, you can’t stop people calling you out and I have some sympathy for this point. However, I’ve had to deal with online stalkers and trolls here, so blocking is useful and it’s what I did. The most recent one about five years ago got really sinister and was trying to doxx me on here.
It’s a double edged sword. Bottom line here, even Murphy isn’t obliged to provide a platform for views he disagrees with. I’ll take that downside as worth accepting for the overall benefit.