Elon Musk Announces Plans to Remove Twitter’s ‘Blocking’ Feature

Elon Musk caused a stir on X (previously known as Twitter) on Friday with his surprising announcement that the platform will be removing the ‘block’ feature. This means that users will no longer have the ability to block others, regardless of whether they engage in spamming or trolling behavior. The billionaire has been vocal about his distaste for common social networking features, but eliminating the blocking feature may prove to be a challenging task, even for the owner of one of the biggest social media platforms.

Musk responded to a tweet asking if there was ever a reason to unmute someone when he said, “Block is removed as a ‘feature’, except for DMs. He also added, ‘It doesn’t make sense.'” You’d think Musk made the comment for a second in the heat, and certainly not going to take away one of the basic features of social media.But you’d be wrong.

Elon Musk wants to remove the “block” feature

He said the same thing in a June 2023 tweet: “Blocking public messages doesn’t make sense. It needs to be abandoned in favor of a stronger form of muting.” And he has also complained about the large blacklists that have cluttered the recommendation system. He has also spoken out in support of users who have criticized mass ban campaigns in the past.

And all of this shows that Musk might really want to get rid of the blockchain feature. Musk has been a “free speech” activist even before owning the platform, advocating for X to be more like a town square where people interact and have conversations rather than blocking them or asking someone to be banned for their views. However, that is easier said than done.

Unblocking a feature is trickier than Musk thinks

The feature to block someone has been around since the early days of the internet, as developers realized that protecting users on the platform is a big responsibility. With spammers, trolls, stalkers, and malicious people everywhere, sometimes people just want to feel safe, and an effective way to do that is to block them.

“Block is a form of user moderation,” Windows Central Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino said in response to Musk’s tweet. And the problem is not only moral.

Both Apple and Google have rules in their terms of service that require social media apps in the App Store and Play Store to have some sort of blocking feature available to users. Fighting with the platforming giants might not be something Musk wants to do right now, as he’s actively trying to build his all-in-one app and get more users and advertisers.