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X has announced changes to its blocking mechanism, aiming to increase transparency. Historically, when a user blocked another on X, the blocked party’s tweets became entirely inaccessible. However, under the upcoming policy, blocking will no longer prevent users from viewing public tweets.
This means that only the private tweets will be hidden from other users, blocked or unblocked. With the changes expected to roll out soon, X will likely monitor how users react and adjust to the new blocking functionality.
While this shift allows greater visibility, blocked users will still be restricted in engaging with the content. They won’t be able to like, reply, or repost the tweets of someone who has blocked them, although they can still view all public posts.
According to several tweets by X’s engineering team, this aligns with the platform’s broader push for transparency. By allowing blocked users to continue viewing public posts, the platform aims to foster an environment where users are aware of what is being said, even by those who have blocked them.
“Today, block can be used to share and hide harmful or private information about those they’ve blocked. Users will be able to see if such behaviour occurs with this update, allowing for greater transparency,” the engineering team tweeted.
Musk has previously criticised the concept of blocking, suggesting it limits the open exchange of information. As far back as last year, he indicated that blocking, as a feature, would be eliminated, except for direct messages. In May 2024, X announced that users can now see replies from those who blocked them.
The public’s reaction to this policy has mostly been negative. People are bashing the engineering team and Elon Musk for this decision. Some also claim that this decision runs against the Google Play Store and Apple App Store policies.
Additionally, people fear this decision will help stalkers and harassers. Some intelligence and defence experts also question the decision and ask Elon Musk about posts from terrorist accounts and how this sudden and dramatic decision can cause personal security issues.
This pivot raises fundamental questions about the balance between transparency and user safety. While Musk’s push for open disclosure is clear, critics rightly question and debate this decision.
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