Carte blanche for anti-Semites?
Auschwitz memorial criticized Musk’s plans for X
08/19/2023 11:59 am
Elon Musk describes himself as a free speech advocate, but some critics say his approaches to Twitter are irresponsible. The short message service, now dubbed X, wants to remove a function in the future that actually helps to contain anti-Semitism, among other things.
Elon Musk has met with criticism with the recent plans to abolish the blocking function on his online platform X. For example, the Auschwitz Memorial pointed out that its profile regularly blocks authors of anti-Semitic comments and Holocaust deniers. If their accounts are reported, this often remains without result, emphasized the memorial at X (formerly Twitter).
With the blocking function one can protect the memory of the victims of the Nazi concentration camp. Musk announced on X that the blocking function would be removed for public posts. However, she should stay for direct messages. Musk had already written in June that blocking makes no sense, instead an expanded mute function should be sufficient. After that, no steps in this direction were known at first. Musk bought Twitter last fall for around $44 billion and announced, among other things, fewer restrictions on what can be said on the platform.
Difference between blocking and muting
Blocking and muting have different consequences on X. If someone blocks an account, they will no longer see its posts. At the same time, the blocked person cannot see or interact with the blocker’s posts. Experts have pointed out in recent years that the function is helpful for victims, among other things, in the event of harassment and hate campaigns.
Muting, on the other hand, only hides posts from an account. However, the muted person cannot see this – and they can still see the posts of the user who muted them. It was initially unclear whether Musk would be violating the rules of the Apple and Google app stores by removing the function.
Both platforms require social media apps to be able to block users for misbehavior. However, the wording leaves open whether only the platform operator or also the users must be able to do this. However, developers have reported app rejection in the past because the option was not intended for users.