Elon Musk intends to prevent the blocking of accounts on X (Twitter). The feature would be removed, except in private messages.
” It does not mean anything. ” These words have been tweeted by Elon Musk on the evening of Friday August 18, 2023, but they probably crossed the minds of many Internet users when they learned of the latest decision by the owner of X (formerly Twitter). ” Blocking will be removed as a ‘feature’, except for DMs [ndlr : messages privés] », announced Elon Musk, without giving a more precise date. The masking feature, which consists of muting users so that they no longer appear in the news feed, without blocking them, would be maintained.
The owner of X was responding to a post from the Tesla Owner Silicon Valley account, which brings together owners of Tesla electric cars. The tweetpublished at the end of the day, was as follows: Is there a good reason to block or mute someone? Give your reasons. »
Soon the end of the blocking of accounts on Twitter?
As The Verge points out, this is not the first time that Elon Musk has expressed his negative opinion about the blocking function on the social network. ” Blocking public messages makes no sense », he said on Twitter in June 2023. That said, Elon Musk is used to strange and broken promises.
For now, blocking is still possible on X. Numerama’s editorial staff was able to verify this on the morning of August 19, 2023: accounts can still be blocked, including Elon Musk’s account himself.
Blocking, a useful tool in the absence of real moderation on X
Shortly after Elon Musk’s post, many accounts grew concerned about the prospect of the blocking feature disappearing from X. There are some very real benefits to being able to block accounts on Twitter, including protecting against cyberbullying. Even though moderation has never been a success on Twitter, blocking at least offers a way to protect against unwanted accounts and replies.
Masking accounts can contribute to this moderation, but to a lesser extent: masked Internet users can continue to access messages and make replies to messages, which will be seen by others. Blocking prevents any interaction with your tweets, while hiding only prevents you from seeing those interactions. as Daniel Rubino points outeditor of Windows Central.
Internet users have even seen fit to provide clarification using the “Community Notes” feature, which allows you to add context to certain tweets deemed misleading. ” Elon Musk can’t do that. Site account blocking feature is required for social media apps to be allowed on App Store and Play Store », can we read in a note.
Indeed, in its “Rules Information Center”, Google support specifies that moderation must ” integrate a system to block users and user-generated content “. As for iOS, it is stated that developers should provide ” the ability to block abusive users of the service (which is a little more ambiguous on whether or not to have a blocking functionality).
” I see a lot of users concerned about removing the block. We can make muting stronger, preventing people you mute from replying or quoting you. We can also transfer your block list to the mask list », tried to reassure Aqueel Miqdadsoftware engineer at X.
Still, for many users who were already hesitant to leave X because of Elon Musk, the end of the block could be a reason to permanently delete their account.
Subscribe for free to Artificials, our AI newsletter, designed by AIs, verified by Numerama!