Twitter (X) to get rid of the Block feature

Blocking 'makes no sense' to Elon Musk.

Twitter
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Elon Musk has made a series of head-scratching decisions since acquiring Twitter late last year (including rebranding it to X), but his latest might be a topper. This morning, Elon Musk announced that Twitter will soon get rid of the Block feature, with the exception of DMs.

Elon Musk shared the news in a reply to a tweet earlier today. In response to a post from Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley that asked about the meritable difference between muting and blocking on the platform, Musk stated “Block is going to be deleted as a “feature”, except for DMs.” In a subsequent tweet, he clarified his stance on the matters, stating that “It makes no sense.”

The two Elon Musk tweets quoted in the paragraph above.

The news quickly caused a stir among Twitter users, many of which pleaded to Musk to reconsider the decision. Many of them pointed out that Blocking can be useful for curtailing harassment and avoiding abusers. In response to a tweet criticizing the move to scrap Blocking, Musk suggested that people utilize the Mute feature instead. Muting will prevent you from seeing a person’s posts, but it doesn’t stop them from seeing, replying to, our quote tweeting yours.

Elon Musk neglected to share any additional details on his decision to get rid of Twitter’s Block feature — including when it will happen. With the amount of backlash he seems to be getting for the announcement, we’re curious to see if he reverses the decision, similar to what happened after he said that Light Mode would go away, and then users explained to him that some visually impaired people struggle to read white text on a dark background.

As we continue to follow the latest developments at Twitter (X), stick with Shacknews.

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 18, 2023 9:45 AM

    Donovan Erskine posted a new article, Twitter (X) to get rid of the Block feature

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 9:52 AM

      X gon give it to ya

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 9:55 AM

      from a tech perspective there was some info about how people had hundreds of thousands of blocked accounts and the servers were overloading when creating a timeline for them something something just buy more servers hello

      https://www.blockpartyapp.com/ in its heyday would mass block mass accounts

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 9:57 AM

      I just heard about this, lmao wtf. Elon is just speedrunning destroying all utility twitter ever had. He is determined to let people force you to see their bullshit if you use his dumb platform at all. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Elon.

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 9:57 AM

      threads doing the rubbing hands meme everytime elon makes a dumb change

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 10:03 AM

      The only person I had blocked on Twitter was Musk.

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 10:12 AM

        yep, Musk and advertisers.

        100% he is getting rid of Block because someone told him how many people have him blocked.

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 10:14 AM

      clearly not because he is the most blocked account by a mile, couldn't be that!

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 10:17 AM

      Won't that get it pulled from the Apple Store? Doesn't Apple require that capability for social media apps? Pretty sure BouillonCubes had to add it to Evening Reading? Maybe it was just reporting that was required, not blocking.

      Either way, this is stupid but also not surprising.

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 10:31 AM

        I don't know about Apple, but Google definitely requires a block function for apps with social features. Google Play delist likely coming fast if Elon finalizes this decision.

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 11:27 AM

        yep it does

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 2:43 PM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          August 18, 2023 2:56 PM

          Yeah, k. They only wanted the ability for me to block your posts though. Not for me to block you from seeing my posts. Sounds like Twitter will still have the first but is taking away the second so they're probably still fine.

      • reply
        August 19, 2023 12:23 AM

        Apps named with a single letter or number are also banned in the App Store. Big popular apps can always break the rules, as long as it benefits apple in some way.

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 10:23 AM

      If I have to see a bunch of posts from and about stupid fucking Elon, it'll make it easier to never go back. What a fucking chode.

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 10:26 AM

      In most cases mute is just as effective as block, however in harassment situations especially involving IRL harassment blocking someone so they can't see your posts is vital. So weird to get rid of it.

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 10:34 AM

        I thought with “mute” an undesirable person can still see and respond to your posts, so while you don’t see their reply, other people still do, so they can still stir up shit by replying to your posts

        • reply
          August 18, 2023 11:49 AM

          100%

          Mute just stops you from hearing them, Block stops them from hearing you in the first place.

        • reply
          August 18, 2023 1:23 PM

          That's how Reddit's "block" used to work. It was super fun when my ex was following my account and commenting bullshit on my posts and then getting into fights with other people to the point that I found out about it through someone else messaging me to say they were sorry about how awful this person seemed to be.

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 10:35 AM

        It's not weird, it's intentional. Their whole goal is to shove their trash ideas in your face no matter what. Force you to see it. The more that stuff is in the public eye over time the more it becomes "normal" and the less people question it.

        • reply
          August 18, 2023 12:59 PM

          to Musk "freedom of speech" means a clear channel to deliver the product (user eyeballs) to whatever content he is promoting (whether advertising, political, himself, etc)

          • reply
            August 18, 2023 1:04 PM

            Yep, and it's his platform now so I guess I'm fine with him doing whatever he wants. Hopefully it just convinces more people to leave and makes it even less relevant.

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 11:03 AM

        Mute is only solving the problem for yourself and not your followers

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 11:11 AM

        I just had a thought, how the hell does this work for protected accounts?

        Going protected is also how people would really lock down their account, but if you can't block accounts while going protected that makes protected useless. If they followed you before you went protected there would be no way to get rid of them?

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 10:38 AM

      I quit at the best time because every day I read a new article or something confirming I made the right choice

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 11:05 AM

        Same. At this point it's just endless popcorn.

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 10:42 AM

      what a clown

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 12:49 PM

      so the answer to the question of if a billionaire bought my toilet would I stop shitting in it is when they made it overflow

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 1:02 PM

      Some people claim that google and Apple Store will block this per TOS, but we’ll see if Elon can convince them that mute and private are enough

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 1:21 PM

        Mute should definitely not and private is not ideal either. Hope they block this.

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 1:25 PM

        people keep saying this but no one has linked the relevant TOS? I know they have requirements about platform side content moderation but I don't recall ever seeing this requirement

        • reply
          August 18, 2023 1:35 PM

          Provides an in-app system for blocking UGC and users. https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9876937

          • reply
            August 18, 2023 1:37 PM

            Twitter's mute function surely satisfies this definition from the perspective of an app user. By no means does that description require you give users the ability to block content for yourself and for your followers.

            • reply
              August 18, 2023 1:44 PM

              Do you want people to link things just so you can argue? I don't have any interest in discussing what a minimal interpretation of block might be. Google can decide what it means and it doesn't have to be minimal.

              • reply
                August 18, 2023 3:04 PM

                Then why did you reply?

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                  August 18, 2023 3:09 PM

                  🙄🙄🙄

                  • reply
                    August 18, 2023 3:16 PM

                    What's there to eye roll about? derelict asked for someone to show where this violates TOS because it's pretty clear that some of us are confused about what's being removed because we didn't read the article completely and aren't familiar with the way Twitter works.

                    When the thing linked doesn't provide that, derelict explains why. Not even argumentatively, informationally.

                    If vigilante has no interest in discussing about the topic why did they reply. It's just antagonistic and immediately shutting down the conversation by taking your ball and going home. Better off just walking away 🤷‍♂️

                • reply
                  August 18, 2023 4:05 PM

                  He said he had only seen a requirement that the platform be able to block users from their side. I wanted him to see that a requirement that users be able to block in app exists and is trivial to find. You know, cause knowing facts is good.

                  • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
                    reply
                    August 18, 2023 5:12 PM

                    And then someone made a fairly reasonable follow-up comment and you gave them attitude for it? Apple isn't concerned about the literal word "block" being used, it's about functionality.

              • reply
                August 18, 2023 3:11 PM

                yes I want people to link sources for their claims and if those sources don't match their claims it's worth noting that

                • reply
                  August 18, 2023 5:09 PM

                  My claim in this thread is I won't use an overflowing toilet.

                • reply
                  August 18, 2023 11:37 PM

                  You made a counter claim that the existing feature satisfies the requirement but have not backed that up yourself, it's simply your opinion.

                  • reply
                    August 19, 2023 12:33 AM

                    My evidence is the whole App Store. Where’s Reddit’s equivalent feature that lets me block a user’s posts from being seen by others who like me?

                    • reply
                      August 19, 2023 12:33 PM

                      You're the only one who has claimed that's the only significant difference. Others have pointed out ways in which Reddit does indeed do more than just mute the content for yourself.

        • reply
          August 18, 2023 1:58 PM

          I dunno, I saw the pics on twitter

          Here’s one actually getting told to do it in their review process

          https://x.com/bmsimp/status/1692599329565868341?s=46&t=EGmzbL2_HPMS8zUzvkYYfA

            • reply
              August 18, 2023 3:16 PM

              yeah I don't think folks are understanding what these things mean. Users need a way to block = mute. That's functionally equivalent from the user's perspective (but not from the network's and other user's perspective). The other link is about the platform providing some way to ban users which Twitter does with or without the block button. This one came up when Parler and others were first coming online with no content moderation at all and they got banned from app stores for not even being able to ban people who post child porn or whatever.

              • reply
                August 18, 2023 3:29 PM

                where’s your source to back up the claim that from Google and / or Apples perspective that mute = block despite the explicit inclusion of the word “block” and the absence of the word “mute?”


                • reply
                  August 18, 2023 3:45 PM

                  because the TOS is written in common English not product specific feature verbiage about the nature of block vs mute vs silence vs ban or whatever. The TOS is saying you have to give users a way to stop people from harassing them, which in common language is to block them. Twitter's block feature doesn't even make sense in other apps with user generated content without followers. Think about how this would manifest in a Reddit app or Roblox.

                  Put another way, imagine you submit an app without any block feature and Apple rejects it citing this line. So you resubmit with a block feature. A user can now block any other user and not have to see their posts any more. Now Apple is going to still reject your app and cite that same line and say 'well actually it means a user has to also be able to block any user's content from being seen by their followers'?

                  • reply
                    August 18, 2023 4:00 PM

                    that’s up to Apple and Google to decide. i.e. no matter your interpretation, you’re not an arbiter or any kind of authority to argue in any direction, particularly against the plain language of the TOS, to the point where you tell someone else they’re wrong.

                    • reply
                      August 18, 2023 4:22 PM

                      It very obviously is fine for Apple/Google or they wouldn’t allow Reddit, Instagram, Facebook. All of which block you from seeing other people but they can still see your content.

                      Twitter was a bit unique in having block and mute.

                      • reply
                        August 18, 2023 4:27 PM

                        hwut?

                        When you block someone's profile on Facebook, that profile will no longer be able to do things such as tag your profile or see things you post on your profile. If you have additional Facebook profiles, you'll need to manage blocking from each of your profiles separately.

                        https://www.facebook.com/help/168009843260943

                      • reply
                        August 18, 2023 4:30 PM

                        When you block a user on instagram then they can no longer see your profile, stories, etc.*

                        * Posting this fact doesn't imply a desire to argue about what words mean. I don't even have a judge's robe to put on. I just know things.

                      • reply
                        August 18, 2023 4:49 PM

                        for completionists:

                        Redditors you block won't be able to access your profile or see or reply to your post or comments in communities, unless you are a moderator in specific situations.

                        https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413520308372-How-does-blocking-work-#:~:text=You%20won't%20be%20able,their%20content%20will%20be%20collapsed

                        • reply
                          August 18, 2023 5:05 PM

                          If that’s the case I wonder when it changed as I have two accounts to test this and when I did my blocked account could see everything from the main account but couldn’t reply.

                          If that’s been changed great and I was wrong and happy to be wrong about this.

              • reply
                August 18, 2023 3:46 PM

                I literally said "some people" and "we’ll see if Elon can convince them that mute and private are enough"

                Isn’t that enough qualifiers for you?

                • reply
                  August 18, 2023 4:36 PM

                  ben shapiro ass debate me crowd

              • reply
                August 18, 2023 10:16 PM

                yeah not at all

                mute doesn't stop people from shitting up your replies etc

                mute is entirely insufficient as a means to prevent targeted harassment

                why the block feature exists at all

              • reply
                August 19, 2023 12:32 AM

                twitter mute as an alternative to block woudl suck, itd be like discords block, both shit cause you can still see your blocked users spam your UI

                that said discord should not pass TOS until they fix that too

                • reply
                  August 19, 2023 12:33 AM

                  It would absolutely suck and also satisfy App Store rules

            • reply
              August 18, 2023 7:13 PM

              They'll remove block and then rename mute to block.

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 3:42 PM

        Here comes the roll to the right until the thread is unreadable crew.

        😮‍💨😔😞😮‍💨

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 1:46 PM

      Uhhhhh. That's fucking stupid.

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 2:53 PM

      Right after I block Elon. Go figure.

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 2:56 PM

        Oh but this means Dan Harmon won't have me blocked anymore! Although I think he stopped using Twitter like 6 years ago.

        • reply
          August 18, 2023 9:17 PM

          Make no mistake it will still work fine for his inner circle

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 7:48 PM

        He probably saw the number of people that had blocked him

    • reply
      August 18, 2023 4:14 PM

      Such xeeting such a uniform platform for all our needs such vision

      • reply
        August 18, 2023 8:03 PM

        I vastly prefer saying he’s xcreting

    • reply
      August 19, 2023 3:21 AM

      You've never been able to find me on Twitter.

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