Today, Twitter/X owner Elon Musk casually revealed the most dramatic change to the platform since he took it on last year. Granted, Musk is often full of shit, and many of his online blunders are later walked back. But this is a big one. And what’s more, Musk dropped it in a reply.
In a reply to a tweet (an X?) from Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (already a red flag), Musk said: “Block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs.” As in, you would no longer be able to stop a harasser from seeing your profile and commenting on your tweets. You would still be able to “mute” them, but muting just allows you not to see people’s BS. Blocking is much more powerful—if you block a user, they cannot view, interact with, or follow your account from their own. It’s a necessary tool against online harassment, which has notably been on the rise since Musk took over Twitter.
Quite sweetly, added context from Twitter users has undermined Musk’s claim: “Elon Musk cannot do this. The feature to block someone on the site is REQUIRED as a social media app to be allowed on the App Store and the Google Play store.”
Though, perhaps Musk simply doesn’t care if Twitter/X is available on the App Store or Google Play store anymore. Yes, it would completely shred the primary user interface of the business. But it seems like he might be genuinely intent on destroying Twitter … I mean X.
If Musk does go through with it (again, he’s finicky as hell), losing almost every single smartphone user in America is just the beginning of the exodus. Even for desktop users, I’ve seen more pledges to leave the platform for good today than following any of Musk’s other shenanigans. And for obvious reasons: the ability to block someone harassing you is a basic and necessary feature of online safety. Especially for women, POC, and members of the LGBTQ+ community, all of whom historically receive higher rates of online harassment. But anyone offering any kind of service, or in any kind of spotlight, has just been wantonly endangered.
The only people the removal of blocking would serve is the harassers themselves. Twitter/X would become a veritable playground for online bullies. To the degree that they would likely become the only people left on the platform. So congrats, Elon. You’ve re-invented 4chan.
(featured image: Chesnot / Getty Images)
