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Elon Musk ’s X is design to make a alteration to how the engine block office works , breaking from the established monetary standard of other societal media apps . When the policies around blocking alteration , people who have been blocked by someone will still be able-bodied to see that somebody ’s posts , so long as they ’re public . They just wo n’t be able to wish , repost , or reply to these billet .
“ Blocking public posts make no sense , ” Musksaidon X last yr . “ It needs to be deprecated in favor of a stronger form of mute . ”
Jack Dorsey , a former co - founder and CEO of Twitter , agree with this sentiment . In a sentience , Dorsey and Musk do have a power point . On most social medium platforms , if someone hinder you , you could still find their public posts — you just have to lumber out of your own report . But Tracy Chou , founder of the anti - harassment toolBlock Party , contend that this extra bit of clash matters .
Chouwroteon X , “ i ’m sure someone from twitter ( elon ) is arguing that block evasions were always possible from other news report but the point is that rubbing matter ! ! making it easy for a creeper to crawl is not a good thing ! ! ”
Many X user agreed with Chou , generating increase interest in other platform . Bluesky , a Twitter choice , has addedanother 1.2 million usersover the past two day , as users depend for an choice to X. On the U.S. App Store ’s top charts , Bluesky go up to No . 2 in the Social Networking category , up from No . 181 the old day .
These spurts of growth do n’t always understand to long - term usage . But , as react to some other platform updates — like its name alteration from Twitter to X — this policy change is n’t just symbolic . It ’s a move that prioritize the experience of mass being immobilise , rather than those doing the blocking , who are often more immediately at risk .
“ Today , block can be used by users to share and hide harmful or private information about those they ’ve blocked , ” X ’s engineering teamwrotein a post . “ Users will be able to see if such behavior take place with this update , allowing for great transparence . ”
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This position can be alienate for users who are more concerned about their own safety than this cherry red - picked scenario , in which they could be blocked by someone who then shares data about them .
Claire Waxman , who serve in the London Mayor ’s Office as the appointed Victims ’ Commissioner , is also concerned how the changes could impact victims of abuse .
“ This is a grievous decision for a societal media platform , and will have serious entailment for victims — especially those being stalked — and their safety , ” Waxmanwroteon X. “ Enabling blocked users to see mail is cater to abusers and stalkers , indulging and facilitating their behavior . ”
Colten Meisner , an adjunct professor at North Carolina State University who studies social media harassment , agrees .
“ The block feature film has been a first line of defense for people being harry , ” Meisner told TechCrunch . “ It feel like there ’s no other way to see this policy change but to say , ‘ Victims of molestation , the first line of defense you ’ve had , we ’re now go to take aside . ’ Because if you want persuasion , if you want visibility , that ’s what it comes with on X. ”
Meisner also go out a trend in how Musk ’s personal beliefs and blood feud have been reflected in political platform policy .
“ [ Musk ] is definitely the original of the someone that ’s being impede , and so it almost feels like a childish retaliation in some sense , ” Meisner say . “ Elon specifically has had this chronicle of making policy changes fundamentally at his own whims . ”
For instance , X has suppress link to its competitors , likeSubstackandMastodonat various time . The platform also once singled out NPR with a “ state - affiliated mass medium ” label , which is ordinarily reserved for publications without editorial independence from their government ( NPR receivesless than 1%of its $ 300 million annual budget from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting , which is federally funded ) .
On a platform that has already father markedrisesinhate speech , the changes to the block feature are a precursor of the same trend proceed .
“ This insurance policy variety is just a monumental backstep in the chronicle of torment , ” Meisner added .
