Elon Musk announced Friday that Twitter will soon remove the “block” option for everything except direct messages, igniting intense debate on the social media platform, according to CNBC.
Musk paid $44 billion to acquire Twitter last year and has since made significant changes to the platform, including changing its iconic name to “X,” CNBC reported. Removing the “block” option on Twitter will leave users with only the option to mute harmful content, meaning trolls and online bullies could still comment on users’ posts for all to see; several Twitter users quickly made their disapproval of the new policy known.
Block is going to be deleted as a “feature”, except for DMs
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 18, 2023
Can’t tell you how many scammers reply to my tweets as bait.
I know they are scams but some of my followers don’t.
I block them so they can’t interact with me anymore.
I’m just trying to help people.
— Moose (@JoeyMooose) August 18, 2023
elon musk is removing the block feature so i blocked elon musk pic.twitter.com/gHfZBIiR4E
— kan ☆ (@mstpllr) August 18, 2023
Some users suggested that Musk ended the feature for personal gain.
I think he’s doing it to encourage more people to put up pay walls and use the subscription feature, as that is what will happen
— Robert Sepehr (@robertsepehr) August 18, 2023
Michael Steele, the former Republican National Committee chairman, chimed in on Musk’s decision.
As if this thing wasn’t already a hot mess.https://t.co/SlkKD728kI
— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) August 18, 2023
Some members of the press also expressed their disdain for Musk’s decision.
Last week, I wrote on why blocking is an essential part of any healthy social media site. That Elon wants to eliminate it proves my point: The people who most hate blocking are those who don’t want to be disciplined for being anti-social on the internet. https://t.co/sCUHkI16n0 pic.twitter.com/PcFD5mxgS9
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) August 18, 2023
Guess I better get it in while I can. pic.twitter.com/FV8Yr7V6BB
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) August 18, 2023
Musk blocked me for years for reporting on him and his companies. Then he bought the site and decided he could just ban me and other reporters with rules made up on the fly.
Maybe that’s why he doesn’t need the block feature anymore? pic.twitter.com/2mLV2ylGkj
— Ryan Mac 
(@RMac18) August 18, 2023
Ed Krassenstein, a content creator who, according to NBC News, is paid by Twitter to generate popular content, tried to salvage public opinion by saying the change might actually turn out to be a good thing.
BREAKING: Elon Musk said X will do away with the ability to block accounts.
A ton of people are outraged over this seemingly stunning news, as most of us have quite a large block list.
There is a caveat though that no one is seeming to mention here on X.
While X will remove… pic.twitter.com/Kqf72NdoNB
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) August 18, 2023
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