What you should know about X's controversial block feature change

Topline

X will soon introduce a controversial change to its blocking feature that will allow accounts to continue viewing posts from users they have blocked. This is another update to the Elon Musk-owned platform, formerly known as Twitter, which has drawn the ire of its users.

Important facts

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tangent

Musk has so far refrained from removing the blocking feature entirely, although he claimed in August that it would be “deleted,” adding that the ability to block “makes no sense” before receiving further criticism from users.

Main critic

Bluesky, a decentralized social media platform that has tried to compete with It has far fewer users than X and reported 10 million users on its platform last month.

What is the difference between blocking and muting on X?

While blocking prevents users from liking, replying to, or reposting another user's posts and prevents the accounts involved from following each other, muting allows users to remove other users' posts from their feed without unfollow or block them. Muting does not prevent muted users from sending direct messages or interacting with you (replies and mentions still appear in the Notifications tab), while blocking prevents this interaction. Muting is also a bit more discreet, as muted users cannot tell that they have been muted, while blocked users can see that they have been blocked by visiting a blocker's page.

Important background

Musk said blocking posts “makes no sense” and “must be eliminated in favor of a stronger form of muting.” In general, the blocking feature has long been used on social media to prevent harassment or reduce spam. The latter has become a significant problem on X. If Musk one day deletes the blocking feature, the change could conflict with the app stores of According to The Verge, Google and Apple have mentioned language in their terms that suggests blocking features are necessary for social media platforms. Musk's change to block functionality is one of several ways the tech billionaire has transformed the platform since he bought it for $44 billion two years ago. In addition to changing the network's name from Twitter to X, Musk introduced a tiered subscription model and relaxed content moderation on the social network. The earlier change was met with backlash from users who objected to accounts being blocked by simply purchasing a premium subscription to

Further reading

Musk ends blocking feature on X in latest Twitter change (Forbes)

Elon Musk's X is now worth about a fifth of the $44 billion he paid for it, says Fidelity (Forbes)