Elon Musk claims “block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs”, without giving any details, in a reply to a user's X post about block vs. mute
the ability to block trolls Metro.co.uk : Elon Musk plans to stop letting X (formerly Twitter) users block each other Jorge Aguilar / Android Police : The app formally known as Twitter continues its death spiral with threats to remove all blocks PYMNTS.com : Elon Musk: X Will Eliminate Block Feature Nickolas Diaz / Android Central : Elon Musk to remove block feature from X, with one exception Jason Nelson / Decrypt : Elon Musk Says He's Killing Twitter's Block Feature, Sparking Outcry Rahul Srinivas / SlashGear : Elon Musk Just Announced A New Change That Could Finally Kill Twitter For Good Ariel Zilber / New York Post : Elon Musk says X users will no longer be able to block unwanted followers Muhammad Qasim / Appuals.com : X's “Block” Feature to Be Removed in Elon Musk's Push for Free Speech Nick Heer / Pixel Envy : Blocking Users on Social Media Is Good John Koetsier / Forbes : Uproar On X: Elon Musk Says Blocking Users Will Be ‘Deleted’ Michael Grullon / Watcher Guru : X (Twitter) Can Be Removed From the App Store If It Removes Ability To Block Accounts The Hill : Musk says X, formerly Twitter, will remove block feature The Sun : Elon Musk faces backlash as he ‘bans blocking’ on Twitter despite it being 'mandatory for place on Apple's App Store' Kylie Robison / Fortune : Elon Musk says the Block button on X that users rely on to stop harassment ‘makes no sense’ and he wants to eliminate it Emerson Drewes / Los Angeles Times : Elon Musk says X will get rid of blocking Alex Barinka / Bloomberg : X to Get Rid of Ability to Block Accounts, Owner Elon Musk Says Kris Holt / Engadget : Sorry, you won't be able to block Elon Musk (or anyone else) on X John Callaham / Neowin : A way to block users on X could be going away, according to Elon Musk Sarah Rumpf / Mediaite : Here Is Elon Musk's Latest Terrible Idea to Make Twitter Even More of a Hellscape Than It Already Is The Economic Times : Elon Musk removes blocking option on X except for DMs Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter : Elon Musk Suggests Block Button May Be Next Feature on the Chopping Block at X Todd Spangler / Variety : Elon Musk Says X (aka Twitter) Will No Longer Let You Block Other Users Timi Cantisano / XDA Developers : Blocking users on X (Twitter) will no longer be an option Taylor Lyles / IGN : Elon Musk's Latest Big Idea for X Is Removing the Block Button Bradly Shankar / MobileSyrup : Elon Musk to remove blocking on X so you can't avoid his idiocy Oliver Haslam / iMore : X ditching the block feature might be Elon Musk's worst idea yet Threads: Elad Nehorai / @eladnehorai : That said, Twitter/X is already in violation of a ton of rules for keeping the app on the App Store, and it's very clear Musk is getting preferential treatment from his fellow tech billionaires. We'll see how long it lasts. Renee DiResta / @renee.diresta : Ah - so since he got rid of logged-out view he can no longer see what people are saying since block is actually functioning more like a complete block. Vishvanand Subramanian / @vishvanands : Apple loves making rules for everyone and bending them for Elon. It's happened twice already.. Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : The best thing about Elon posting some crazy idea about how to ruin Twitter is when Jack shows up to agree and throw the old leadership under the bus forgetting he's the old leadership. @jasminericegirl : COMMUNITY NOTES GET HIM Benedict Evans / @benedictevans : Apparently the actual Twitter plan is to rename Block Mute, and let you see (but not interact with) posts from accounts that blocked you without logging out. There is something interesting and paradoxical in the way this impulsive ADD management style applies in the car and rocket industries versus running a social media company. … @jasminericegirl : elon musk pisses me off so bad how does a person manage to make the worst possible decisions at every possible point? removing blocking?? does he ever stop for a second to just think how these decisions affect anyone who uses the platform outside of himself?? … @d_knight10k : Elon is going to remove the “block” function on Twitter and people are going to flood here for the 2024 election, so let's build up are Biden army here so we're prepared. If you're under 1000 followers and you're voting blue up and down the ballot in 2024, REPOST this, hit the LIKE button, and REPLY with No Dem Under 1k and we'll help connect you with all your fellow Biden voters. … Matt Binder / @mattbinder : possibly the worst move he'll have made so far and that's saying something @yasharali : Jack Dorsey endorses Elon's plan to delete the block feature. Scott Galloway / @profgalloway : When a payments & cars guy is running a social media company Molly Jong-Fast / @mollyjongfast : Amazing stuff zero notes Christopher Mims / @technicallymims : excited for Elon to challenge Tim Cook to a cage match Trevor Croker / @trevorcroker : There will be no blocking allowed There will be a vote for major policy changes There will be feature to see if you are shadowedbanned There will be a content moderation council On and on and on Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : It's funny how tech billionaires used to be liberal and woke then they got bored with the act and took their masks off. Anil Dash / @anildash : Elon Musk: 1. Directly funds those who share child sexual abuse material on Twitter/X, refusing to suspend their accounts 2. Directly promoted the child sexual abuse accounts by allowing them to buy Twitter Blue/X Pro to amplify their evil content 3. … Renee DiResta / @renee.diresta : What's YOUR number? A solid 9k of these are from the time Musk retweeted some work we did - favorably! - so ref-working whiner Pizzagate Jack Posobiec immediately, and baselessly, claimed that I, personally, was behind the censorship of the Hunter Biden Laptop. … Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : It's a great example of how much power Apple wields with the App Store that they mandate product design such as every social app must have a block user feature. Government regulations are onerous but none are as onerous and as able to shift your entire business like the PM who drafts the rules for the App Store. … Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : 65.3 million of Elon's followers have zero people that follow them. 62.3 million of them have never tweeted. Dude is the Pied Piper of Hamelin for bots. @hjsjsjaj23 : Man it's insane how easy Elon is making it for Threads to succeed but the Threads team is just blowing it by moving astonishingly slow🤦 @hjsjsjaj23 : The engineering and design team definitely deserves credit, but not the executives who are devising the roadmap. They chose a launch strategy like the top vs the bottom here. And it will be why they go the way to clubhouse is they don't start shipping basics. Chris Messina / @chris : Facebook owns #1, #2, and #3, and #8 in the Social Networking category in the App Store. It makes no sense 🙂 #DeadTwitter Vamshi Perumbudoor / @vamshiperumbudoor : On Android in free apps category threads fallen to 7th position since 3 weeks but still Instagram and Facebook is leading as always Fiona Lichfield / @cannotpleaseall : Got to reset my password so I can leave. Shame as I really like loads that I follow. But @threads is getting better by the day. Jeff Cole / @saintgridiron : Probably best to stop giving Elon Musk oxygen and relevancy on Threads. The outrage cycle is how authoritarians like Trump and Musk thrive, controversy is great for engagement and ratings. Amber Elkins / @amber.d.elkins : @zuck any word on when we might get keyword search ability? Your competition is upping his awfulness @hjsjsjaj23 : And yet Threads is (again) not prepared to intake those users because they are refusing to accelerate the launch of a web app and search/trends. Keith Edwards / @keithedwards : BlueSky and Threads is trending on Twitter because Elon is going to remove the ability to block Francisco De La Vega / @ribo.zyme : Perfect! This will really push for the exodus to @threads @0x8007000e : Astonishingly slow? It's only been a couple of weeks, and they already implemented a ton of top requests! I think it's one of the fastest paced feature trajectories for a service with a hundred million users that I've ever seen and the team deserves a ton of credit. @anity.ex : Compared to actual Twitter and it's other competitor Bluesky I think we're going at a steady speed, its just that the site is very new, but it's web version releases soon as far as I know Jose Reyes / @josereyes : It's been a month! @northyellowstone : Every time I see Xitter I pronounce it Shitter in my head. Incredible branding. Monique L. Dorange / @glowlockets : They really do want to be called shitter, and it is becoming. I already use it daily. Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : Elon Musk finding out he's the most blocked user on Twitter and deciding to do something's about it @bestofdyingtwitter : whatever happened to... Alex Stamos / @alex.stamos : Removing blocking from a social media site doesn't only worsen the experience for almost everybody, but it totally changes the value of a fake account. If a zero-follower account can continuously reply to large accounts and get engagement, running thousands of those accounts becomes more valuable. … Keith Edwards / @keithedwards : I for one am shocked Elon Musk doesn't understand consent John Palmadessa / @johnnypalmadessa : Twitter is removing features like the block button — which was the last remaining barrier to combat hate and discrimination on the platform. Threads is adding features like direct-messaging and a desktop version of the site to promote community building. That's the difference. Lindy Li / @lindy_li : Elon is going to remove the block feature I've blocked 29,224 people, many of whom are racist, sexist & hateful Twitter can be a cesspool for women, esp for minorities Taking away one of our last remaining protections on the 103rd anniversary of the 19th amendment (women's right to vote) is SO on brand Keith Edwards / @keithedwards : Threads new marketing strategy: you can block people and we don't have Elon. Renee DiResta / @renee.diresta : Masterful growth strategy...for competitors Sari Beth Rosenberg / @saribethrose : Another genius move from Space Karen. Through the years I've blocked so many antisemites and Nazis who've said horrific things to me in my comments section. Why would any person let alone advertiser want to be in this space? Molly Jong-Fast / @mollyjongfast : Just trying to make the site more and more unpleasant Keith Edwards / @keithedwards : Elon Musk is about to learn that Google Play and the App Store require social media apps to have a block feature. @bestofdyingtwitter : jack what happened to you Zoe Schiffer / @reporterzoe : Tough day for Marc Andreessen @hunterwalk : Musk saying Block is going away is pure engagement rage bait. Let's wait until that ships. Dustin Moskovitz / @moskov : Responding to a surprise announcement of Xitter CEO Linda Yaccarrino's new plan to remove the “block” feature, CTO Elon Musk countered “it makes no sense.” Ivan Mehta / @mehtology : In today's Dumb and Dumber D.D. Jackson / @d.d._jackson : To go along with this. The last time I looked at an Elon tweet look at who I was recommended to follow next: Mark Bower / @markbower : Watch it become a paid feature approx 2 days after the change goes live. Tom Morton / @tommorton : So basically the platform is optimized for trolls and harassers: the Cartmanization of Twitter @roneneffect : Gotta bolster engagement metrics somehow. If people can once again have a troll/hate-off under your post where they couldn't before because they were blocked, this re-enables that activity at scale, even if you mute them. Plus we now know from established research that negativity sells most on social media. … Greg Lekich / @xeynon : I thought for a second his second tweet was a glimmer of self-awareness but then I realized he meant “the block feature makes no sense” not “deleting it makes no sense” Taylor Lorenz / @taylorlorenz : Elon Musk says he's going to eliminate the block function on Twitter Benedict Evans / @benedictevans : I had to check this was true for myself. That will make the site actually unusable. Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : Even if you paid me to come up with ideas to ruin a social media app you spent $44 billion on, I couldn't come up with ideas this bad. Mastodon: @gallifreygal@blorbo.social : This doesn't seem like a great idea. It would only encourage harassment. So MAYBE now more people will leave? — From: @Techmeme — https://techhub.social/... Nigel Small / @technige@fosstodon.org : I realise this isn't news, but #Musk is either trying to destroy the product or he's insanely stupid. Likely both. — Musk says #Twitter/X's ‘block’ feature is going away | TechCrunch — https://techcrunch.com/... Matt Birchler / @matt@isfeeling.social : As with all #ElonMusk stories, let's let this simmer for a day. It's equal odds he'll go “never mind, I didn't actually mean that.” — https://9to5mac.com/... Dan Gillmor / @dangillmor@mastodon.social : Over at Twitter, Musk is deleting the “Block” option except for DMs. Given the increasing numbers of extremists there, this is guaranteed to piss off all kinds of people who routinely get trolled. Based on experience and observation, journalists are among them. … Christopher Mims / @mimsical@mastodon.social : imagine being this clueless about what it's like to be stalked, harassed, or just, you know, exist as a marginalized person on the internet — https://variety.com/... Mark Sumner / @Devilstower@mstdn.social : Why, this is hell, nor will Elon let you out of it. https://variety.com/... @harriettmb@mastodon.ie : Just muting creeps, stalkers, abusers, ex-partners, their associates really does not protect the victims in any way whatsoever. This is just dangerous. Will it take the death or life altering injury before this madness is revoked? Right now, victims, women, gay and trans people should leave that platform. … William Pietri / @williampietri@sfba.social : So ex-Twitter is removing blocking at Musk's order. He believes the feature “makes no sense.” And I think I know why. — A consistent theme in Prof Manne's “Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny” is entitlement. Men feeling entitled to women's care and love and deference. … Aida Akl / @AAKL@noc.social : What the heck. Let's see how this is going to affect paid users who have remained despite the toxicity. — Elon Musk Says #X (aka #Twitter) Will No Longer Let You Block Other Users https://variety.com/... @variety Christina Warren / @film_girl@mastodon.social : There is something terribly ironic about Bluesky crashing due to the influx of users now that Elon has said he's going to remove Block from Twitter/X (which is too stupid to even comment on), when people literally had pitchforks up at Bluesky for not having blocks as a launch feature in private beta … Quinn Blueheart / @qblueheart@smutlandia.com : So will today be another new user boost on Mastodon? — I'm still wishing for more erotica writers here! Say hi & let's boost each other! — https://9to5mac.com/... Raymond Neilson / @delta_vee@mstdn.ca : I guess Musk is big mad so many people have him blocked — https://techcrunch.com/... Ernie Smith / @ernie@writing.exchange : What an idiot. — [image] @gwensnyder@mstdn.party : He's going to get people killed with this. — You know what Nazis used to do in my Twitter replies before I started mass blocking? — They'd give my home address out to OTHER Nazis in my replies who had expressed an interest in murdering my family and me. — [image] X: Elon Musk / @elonmusk : @teslaownersSV Block is going to be deleted as a “feature”, except for DMs Elon Musk / @elonmusk : @teslaownersSV It makes no sense @lindayax : Our users' safety on X is our number one priority. And we're building something better than the current state of block and mute. Please keep the feedback coming. @monicalewinsky : hey + ... please rethink removing the block feature. as an anti-bullying activist (and target of harassment) i can assure you it's a critical tool to keep people safe online. - that woman @aqueelmiq : i am seeing a lot of users concerned about removing blocks. We can make mutes stronger, like not allow people you mute to reply or quote you. We can also transfer you block list to mute list. Preventing an account from seeing your posts does not work in practice. Anyone with any intent can find out what you post by simply creating another account or logging out Leon / @leyawn : it's cool when you spot one of the few remaining twitter employees in the wild. like a low level henchman. removing blocks and ruining mutes at the same time. good idea dumb ass Elizabeth Spiers / @espiers : If Elon eliminates the block function, this site will become unusable. But this guy being mad about it will be funny. [image] Dmitry Grozoubinski / @dmitryopines : Removing Block because someone truly determined could find a way to see your content anyway is like removing the locks from your door because someone could just show up with a battering ram and twenty stout Roman Hastati. Parker / @pt : If Jack tricked Elon into buying the company for $44B with A16Z's money and then tricks him into turning it onto a $400M asset sale so he can buy it outright, I will be very impressed. [image] @jack : @elonmusk @teslaownersSV 💯. mute only. @alx : @elonmusk @teslaownersSV Blocking is a good way to prevent scammers/bots from replying to future posts in the time they're waiting to be actioned. I also think blocking should be encouraged in place of reporting when people are getting unwanted replies & in cases when there's no ToS violation. Chance Miller / @chancehmiller : Musk says that Twitter will no longer let you block other users. But...Apple's App Store guidelines might not let this actually happen. Apps with user-generated content must offer “the ability to block abusive users from the service.” [image] @khayhoe : As a female climate scientist, blocking is the only thing that makes my engagement here on Twitter/X possible. Daily, I receive comments that range from disparaging to downright vile. Since Oct, my tweets can attract thousands of trolls (real people) and bots (not real). 🧵 @kimdotcom : Do not remove the block feature. My tools manage the insane amount of bots and state operated propaganda accounts on X via blocks and without that feature I simply won't use X anymore. In fact if you want to clean up your insane bot mess just use my block list. @teslaownerssv : @elonmusk In my opinion it's worth having. Unfortunately trolls and spammers come out. Haters will always try to get some fame over trolling accounts and bashing their name through the mud and being able to control the experience matters. At least for reach user. LeGate / @williamlegate : Musk's decision to eliminate the block feature is in direct violation of App Store guidelines & will lead to X's removal from the App Store, if implemented I predict Elon isn't aware of this & will backtrack — saying he was “trolling” or “joking” — and his followers will buy it [image] @dylanmcd8 : Apple's rules could be interpreted as a company-side way to suspends users from the service, but Google's are very plain. And good, this shouldn't really have to be spelled out, but I'm glad it is. No Block is an insane idea. @dexerto : Removal of the block button may violate Apple and Google's app store policies requiring the ability for users to block content [Screenshot of app store rules: Apple: “The ability to block abusive users from the service” Google: “Provides an in-app system for blocking UGC and users;"] Elon Musk / @elonmusk : @WatcherGuru You will still be able to mute accounts and block users for DMs @katienotopoulos : Genuinely curious what the reasoning here is. We can rightfully assume Elon is a dumbass who doesn't understand the platform or humans, but I also assume Jack has spent a long time thinking about this exact issue. @delafina777 : “Just a reminder that someone being slightly less awful than Elon still leaves lots of room to be awful” @brendaneich : Muting lets the muted pollute your t/l by dragging in third parties. Sometimes blocking is best. I myself mute only unless it's phisherbots with some crypto phishing scam, then I “Hide Reply / Block”. So my blocklist is smaller than mutelist, but it's growing. X could fix this... @aqueelmiq : “blocks are actually problematic in some cases. Some users block the people they want to harass and spam so they don't find out fast enough” @timsweeneyepic : “@elonmusk @teslaownersSV ^ this community note lol” @radiofreetom : If Threads develops a desktop and a Tweetdeck-like functionality, that'll be the bat-signal for more to begin moving. But for now it's Post for news, Bluesky for some fun follows, and Twitter for generica. Spoutible is nice, too, but so far haven't mastered it. @dieworkwear : “what happened to this?” @andylevy : yeah no it isn't [image] @wallstreetsilv : @elonmusk @teslaownersSV That is a huge mistake. There are toxic people on this platform that users simply don't want in their replies. Block is a critical peace of mind issue for many people because it generally gets the cyber stalkers to move on. Kat Abu / @abughazalehkat : Let's be clear: Getting rid of the block feature is an endorsement of harassment. Elon Musk not only wants users to BE harassed, but to have see it too. Cool stuff! @steinkobbe : Getting rid of the block function is obviously stupid, but the community notes keep getting dumber every day. Of course Elon can do it. He owns the company and the guidelines on those places are vague, and even if it goes against their rules that doesn't mean he can't do it [image] @nash076 : Everyone rushing to Bluesky today: [image] Jay M. Thomas / @jay_m_thomas : Translated: Too many users #block @elonmusk @steinkobbe : It's underrated how stupid Jack is [image] Katie Notopoulos / @katienotopoulos : Elon Musk hates Ryan so much that he blocked all inbound email from a https://buzzfeed.com/ email address, which made it annoying to ever try to ask him for comment Ari Drennen / @aridrennen : Elon seems committed to degrading the user experience for everyone but annoying trolls on this website, so here's a quick guide to making your mentions more bearable from somebody who gets a lot of vicious harassment here: (1/4) [image] Keith Stoeckeler / @keiths : “On days like today, I'm reminded of @karaswisher's observation that most of the problems with the internet come down to the fact that it's largely run by straight, rich, white dudes who have never had to fear for their personal safety...” Kara Swisher / @karaswisher : Said a man who has never had someone spew a racial, homophobic or misogynistic slur at them (and, bonus, who carelessly invented the chaos). Shauna / @goldengateblond : christ this is gonna be like when the containment unit was shut off in Ghostbusters [image] Amy Diehl, Ph.D. / @amydiehl : This site is becoming less usable by the day. Removing the ability to block will make it impossible to curtail harassment and abuse. Privileged rich white men with security details don't need this feature, but the rest of us do. https://www.cnbc.com/... @panzer : Was just reminded of when Twitter changed the block policy back in wayback. https://techcrunch.com/... E.B. Boyd / @ebboyd : I'm trying to game this out in his head. His ultimate goal is to make X into his late-90s idea of an “everything” site (all commerce, communications, etc...). So, does removing blocking help move that goal forward? Product manager-types: What do you think? Alex Stamos / @alexstamos : If a zero-follower account can continuously reply to large accounts and get engagement, running thousands of those accounts becomes more valuable. This isn't just about harassment, but also spam. Twitter is becoming a fantastic platform for organized spam and trolling operations. Alex Stamos / @alexstamos : Removing blocking from a social media site doesn't only worsen the experience for almost everybody, but it totally changes the value of a fake account. @pavelasamsonov : Why the socials go down: - Mastodon: Admin tip jar is empty - Twitter: Twitter released a new feature that made the website worse - BlueSky: Twitter released a new feature that made the website worse Cassidy / @cassidoo : I wonder what it's like to live in a world where you think blocking doesn't make sense [image] @fed_speak : “If it ain't broke; break it.” - Elon Musk @davidmweissman : I block antisemites, and a mentally ill obsessed stalker who's doxxed me, harasses me, and exploits my children. Yet Elon Musks thinks it's ok to let these people back in your house. [image] @atabarrok : “Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won't happen again.” https://twitter.com/... Josh Barro / @jbarro : As Andy notes, the Apple App Store TOS requires that apps have a block function, so, Twitter will have a block function Ian Miles Cheong / @stillgray : I don't think X will be able to remove the block function even if they wanted to because it would prompt the immediate removal from Apple's App Store. This is in the terms of service. [image] Mehdi Hasan / @mehdirhasan : Bring back the Nazis. Let them get verified. Put ads next to them. And get rid of the Block feature. What could possibly go wrong? Telly Savalas Truths™ / @thedouggernaut : Twitter HQ when musk is about to implement a new feature [image] David Kurten / @davidkurten : This is not a good idea. I believe in free speech, but I block abusive and racist people. I get up to 10 posts a day calling me a c***, a f*****, an uncle Tom or a n*****, and I want to continue to block them. They can say what they like, but I don't want to see it. James Surowiecki / @jamessurowiecki : You just know Musk never bothered to research this. Carl Benjamin / @sargon_of_akkad : I don't think this is a great idea, and will harm the useability of Twitter for most people. Being blocked isn't fun, but it should be a core feature that people have access to in order to properly curate their own social media experience. They should have that control. Derek Guy / @dieworkwear : the worst thing about twitter is the harrassment, trolling, and spamming, and the only protection from those accts is the block feature. twitter should come up with more ways to allow ppl to protect themselves from harrassment, not take away features [image] Derek Guy / @dieworkwear : ppl who don't understand why block is better than mute have never been on forums. on a forum, “blocking” doesn't block; it mutes. as a result, someone can trail you from thread to thread, harassing you, or shit up threads, derailing discussions. only stops when a mod steps in Bri / @brimalandro : The way he just be announcing stuff and pump faking, same way we still have circles and that rate limit disappeared @junlper : bluesky is struggling under the pressure of literally every user going on there after the news of elon working on getting rid of the block feature lol [image] @lessin : I actually agree with this.... DM block sure, hide from feed, sure — but ‘block’ as implemented on twitter is pretty dumb. What is actually frustrating about Elon, is that he isn't always wrong ;) Josh Marshall / @joshtpm : lol The Troll Liberation Act of 2023 has been imposed by royal fiat. @gwensnyderphl : He's going to get people killed with this. You know what Nazis used to do in my Twitter replies? Use their accounts to give my home address out to OTHER Nazis in my replies who had expressed an interest in murdering my family and me. Kyle Clark / @kyleclark : Block is a useful tool to keep anonymous trolls from posting my home address and information about my family in the replies to my posts where they can make that stuff more visible. Let's keep the feature, shall we? @jrs_rankings : Pretty clear a “block” is a requirement to be on the App Store. [image] Oliver Jia / @oliverjia1014 : Oh boy, I can see zero consequences with this happening. Can't wait to see how Elon's fanboys will delude themselves into thinking that this is a swell idea. Jesse Kelly / @jessekellydc : It's the best feature on this website and there's not a close second. Why would I allow anyone and everyone to have access to me? Access to me is a privilege. Access to you is a privilege. If that privilege cannot be revoked, this place will suck. @possumfan777 : remember this [image] David French / @davidafrench : Dreadful idea. Liberal blocking is the only thing that keeps Elon's Twitter bearable. His blue check trolls are so elevated in the algorithm that it's the only way to truly get rid of them. Cari Kelemen / @kelemencari : Muting means you can't see the muted account. Blocking means the blocked account can't see you. There are valid reasons for wanting to block an account. Example: publishing someone's physical whereabouts, which Elon has personally experienced. He should understand this. Matt Walsh / @mattwalshblog : Not a good idea. I don't block often but when I do it's because of accounts that do nothing but spam, harass, dox etc. I'm probably one of the most blocked people on this site (even though I never spam or harass anyone), and even I'm saying that the blocking feature is needed. @philosophi_cat : I block people liberally for several reasons: 1) for my own mental health- I don't want to be exposed to the constant porn, violence, harassment, and nastiness that proliferates on this site 2) for my own safety and privacy- there are a lot of crazy people out there who want... @cbucksrules : I'm constantly followed by porn accounts. At least remove the porn on Twitter. People use porn as an attack by following you and then retweet porn which shows up on the main feed. If I cannot actively block these accounts, I cannot stay. I'm fed up being exposed to this shit... Ben Collins / @oneunderscore__ : Active contempt for regular people who use the internet. Zoe Kleinman / @zsk : I'm not entirely sure how this fits in with both existing and upcoming rules aimed at protecting internet users from online harms Christina Warren / @film_girl : Just brainless and stupid decision making. Linda has Carla Fiorina-ed herself faster than Carly Fiorina. Kat Abu / @abughazalehkat : i only block people who send me rape threats or actively spam my replies, this is a very cool feature thank you elon Dave Itzkoff / @ditzkoff : X will also look to generate revenue from a new feature called “Super Harassers” Josh Sawyer / @jesawyer : Every day this man does the impossible: rehabilitating Lowtax's legacy as the world's worst and dumbest site admin. Tom Nichols / @radiofreetom : If he really is this stupid, then that's the end Benjamin Mayo / @bzamayo : “Block users from the service” means like server admin controls, as in banning a whole account, I think. Not a user-level block feature. @auschwitzmuseum : Failing to address the antisemitic and Holocaust denial comments that appear under our posts commemorating the victims of Auschwitz would be a disservice to their memory. We've chosen to block users who promote denial and hatred. This decision stems from our deep dedication to... [image] Shoe / @shoe0nhead : trolls, harassers, stalkers, parasocial freaks, spam bots & onlyfans hoes aside why would do this on a website that allows minors with literal pedophile communities on it this is nonsense and will make the website unusable locking your door =\= violating someones free speech @byyourlogic : I think more than anything this is about how people block the low rent advertisers that now make up majority of Twitter ad buyers. 7 out of every 10 ads I see is for a completely fraudulent product and I'm sure those companies are getting mass blocked Kat Tenbarge / @kattenbarge : Blocking can alleviate temporary annoyance, but for many users, blocking is the only safety net that allows them to exist on this platform. Musk's strategy thus far has effectively resulted in pushing vulnerable people and voices off the platform. It's a feature, not a bug. Eva / @evacide : I have received a vision of the future: within a week of getting rid of the block button, Elon will announce that the block feature will only be available to Twitter Blue subscribers. Dave Lee / @daveleebbg : So far, every Musk comment/policy has been directly related to his own personal experience on Twitter and little else. @hassankhan : Removing the block option would violate TOS for both the App Store and Play Store Stephen Bush / @stephenkb : At last, I will discover what happened to the idiot cousin or whatever it was. Alexei Oreskovic / @lexnfx : X, now with harassment force feedings @teroterotero : It's amazing how chaotic this app remains despite the fact that there is a nominally normal new CEO. Zoë Schiffer / @zoeschiffer : Tough day for pmarca Christina Warren / @film_girl : How to ruin your social network in 10 easy steps. Blocks aren't just about harassment, it is also about about stopping spam. This is just insanity. Mike Drucker / @mikedrucker : “We've decided for home security purposes, you may no longer lock your doors. It makes no sense. If someone stalking you enters your house, just ignore them.” Christina Warren / @film_girl : jbol I can't even login to bluesky right now. Elon is so amazing. Dan Primack / @danprimack : “If you don't want to listen, why don't you just change the channel?” “Ummm.... I tried to. But it won't let me anymore.” Tom Coates / @tomcoates : Things that make it harder for people to harass you and abuse you are *GOOD*. Things that put at least some control in the hands of the people who use the service are *GOOD*. Things that *self evidently great swathes of twitter users actually use* are DE FACTO USEFUL AND GOOD Tom Coates / @tomcoates : Elon here arguing that blocks don't make sense as a feature. Do they completely stop harassers following the things you say and responding to them? No. Does it make it harder for them to harass you. Yes. WHICH IS THE DAMN FUCKING POINT. Parker / @pt : Linda really needs to fire her head of product. This is just getting out of control. [image] Tom Coates / @tomcoates : Sometimes I think people like @jack and @elonmusk forget that they're not normal people. They get bombarded with abusive comments so much that block functionality simply has no effect for them. Meanwhile it helps 500m other users (Sorry, 300m, 200m, 100m, jesus) April King / @cubeapril : so, like... if this happens, I don't know if I'll be able to use twitter anymore. I have tens of thousands of users on my block list, not just to protect myself but to also protect those who follow me. without blocking, the amount of harassment is insanely high. [image] Gia Milinovich / @giagia : Pre-block button, I had a stalker on here who harassed me all over the web, even using Google searches that ended up in my blog's logs to send me abuse. For two years. Every day. Only after I could block them here did the harassment stop (it took a few months). Keep the block. Julian Sanchez / @normative : Basically his first big stupid change backfired in a totally predictable way, and now he's desperately hoping to salvage it with an even stupider change. [image] Patrick S. Tomlinson / @stealthygeek : Blocking is the only thing that has kept this hellsite even marginally tolerable for many years. Blocking is a fundamental safety feature to protect users from waves of abuse and harassment. Which of course is why he wants to remove it. [image] Aaron Rupar / @atrupar : it had been a few weeks since Elon has said or done something dumb to prompt people to flee the platform. So right on cue ... [image] Mike Drucker / @mikedrucker : ELON PLAN A: “If you pay $8, people are forced to see your racist replies first.” ELON PLAN B: “Since normal humans keep blocking people who pay $8, you may now hide your check when posting racist replies.” ELON PLAN C: “Nobody can be blocked unless they say where my plane is” Sam Santala / @samsantala : In shocking news to no one, most blocked man on Twitter thinks blocking is pointless [image] Julian Sanchez / @normative : Obviously there are tons of excellent reasons to block rather than mute—I never mute, always block. One of those reasons, of course, is to keep the top of your replies from being cluttered with worthless dipshits who paid for a blue check, which I suspect is what this is about. Ella Dawson / @brosandprose : Elon Musk saying that blocking “makes no sense” as a feature is such a galaxy brain removed from empathy delusional rich guy take that I can't formulate a coherent sentence. Blocking is a basic safety necessity. Without it a social network cannot function. @junlper : can't overstate just how much this will ruin the experience of so many people on here. just the absolute dumbest moron to ever exist. just brain dead. completely cooked mind [image] @rmac18 : Musk blocked me for years for reporting on him and his companies. Then he bought the site and decided he could just ban me and other reporters with rules made up on the fly. Maybe that's why he doesn't need the block feature anymore? [image] Brian McCullough / @brianmcc : The whole “he's trying thing after thing to see if he can kill it so he can write it off in bankruptcy” theory is getting more and more plausible. There are other theories, but still... Radley Balko / @radleybalko : I'll just say it again — if some billionaire bought Twitter for the stated purpose of driving it into the ground and making it as unusable as possible, I don't know what they'd do differently than what Musk has done. https://twitter.com/... Dave Lee / @daveleebbg : I'm pretty sure Elon is the sole benefactor of the change to prioritising blue ticks in replies. The responses he sees are just a sea of people who love him enough to give the world's richest man $8 a month. For every other user, blue ticks are a menace. Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias : This might be the change that breaks my addiction to this dumb app LinkedIn: Rafael Brown : A social media platform with increasingly little curation, almost no trust and safety or content moderation, that has ignored CSAM content will now remove blocking. … Forums: Hacker News : Musk says X's ‘block’ feature is going away r/popculturechat : Elon Musk Says X (aka Twitter) Will No Longer Let You Block Other Users See also Mediagazer