X finally making long-feared change that enables ‘creeps’
Elon Musk is finally rolling out a controversial update to X that will allow users to view other people’s posts even if they are blocked.
The billionaire, who acquired the social media platform in 2022, has claimed that the update is long overdue as it “makes no sense”, however the move has been met with backlash among users.
Some have said they felt uncomfortable knowing “creeps” and “weirdos” will be able to view their posts, while others claim it will enable and encourage bad actors on social media.
“One of the biggest functions of blocking is giving women the ability to stop weird men from constantly making them uncomfortable and scared,” one user wrote. “So of course Elon had to change that.”
X rival Bluesky, which saw an influx of users following Mr Musk’s takeover of Twitter, took the opportunity to remind people that its block button can be used to prevent others from viewing posts.
“At Bluesky, we take online safety seriously,” the company wrote on X. “If you want to block someone, you can! It’s your experience to customise.”
Some X users have already received a “Block is changing soon” pop-up message, which warns about the impending update.
“If your posts are set to public, accounts you have blocked will be able to view them, but they will not be able to engage,” the message states. “For more control over who can see you posts, you can still protect your account.”
Soon we’ll be launching a change to how the block function works.
If your posts are set to public, accounts you have blocked will be able to view them, but they will not be able to engage (like, reply, repost, etc.).— Engineering (@XEng) October 16, 2024
The latest change is one of a number of updates since Mr Musk’s takeover that some organisations claim have resulted in a rise in online hate speech on the platform.
The Anti-Defamation League and the Centre for Countering Digital Hate both found that racist slurs had increased nearly three times since Mr Musk’s acquisition in October 2022, while the Institute of Strategic Dialogue reported that anti-semitic posts had also doubled.
Other studies have also reported a rise in Islamaphopia, misinformation and anti-LGBT rhetoric on the platform, with media monitoring group GLAAD claiming that X was “the most dangerous platform for LGBTQ people” last year.
A separate upcoming update to X’s Terms of Service has also prompted backlash from users, with some frustrated that their images, videos and audio will be used to train AI models like Grok. It is set to come into force on 15 November.