Blocking someone on Twitter/X won’t be as absolute as it used to be.
Elon Musk, in a post on the social network, announced upcoming changes to the block functionality, saying, “The block function will block that account from engaging with, but not block seeing, public post.”
Previously, when users blocked a user or account, it prevented that party from not only replying to tweets or mentioning the user, but from seeing what they were posting in the first place.
Musk has never been a big fan of the block button. Last year, he said the feature “makes no sense” and needed to be “depreciated in favor of a stronger form of mute.” At one point, he also threatened to do away with blocking users entirely, except in direct messages.
Part of Musk’s criticism of the feature was that blocking a particular user from following you and seeing your tweets wasn’t effective, since the person could simply create an anonymous account to view your tweets. (Of course, that same method would allow trolls and spammers to post on people’s accounts with the changes to the block policy.)
Opening a separate account to follow someone who has blocked you takes some effort, though. And for most people, who have relied on the blocking function to filter harassment, just blocking a user has been sufficient.
What’s unclear is whether the changes Musk is now discussing fall in line with Apple’s App Store guidelines, which mandate social networks offer “the ability to block abusive users from the service.”
The changes to the block functionality are just the latest in a long line of tweaks Musk has overseen at the company. Others include preventing users from seeing who liked their posts. The blue check mark, which used to verify a user’s identity as authentic, has become a badge for paying users—and, of course, there was a name and logo change for the company.