Elon Musk continues to make changes to X, formerly known as Twitter.
On Friday, the CEO revealed he’s removing the block feature on the platform.
“Block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature,’ except for DMs,” Musk wrote.
Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s founder, seemed to agree. He typed the 100 emoji and said “Mute only.”
Musk’s reasoning for the move? He just doesn’t get it.
“It makes no sense,” he continued.
He suggested users just mute the accounts they don’t want to hear from.
Per X’s Help Center, “Blocking helps people in restricting specific accounts from contacting them, seeing their Tweets, and following them. If you have been blocked by another account on Twitter, you can still block other accounts (including any that have blocked you). If you visit the profile of an account that has blocked your account, you will see a message alerting you of the block.”
When someone is muted, they can still respond to your content but you won’t see it.
“Mute is a feature that allows you to remove an account’s Tweets from your timeline without unfollowing or blocking that account,” X’s Help Center said. “Muted accounts will not know that you’ve muted them and you can unmute them at any time.”
Immediately after sending the tweet, Musk received responses as to why the feature is necessary.
The account for the Auschwitz Memorial in Poland sent a lengthy explanation as to why they use the feature.
“Failing to address the antisemitic and Holocaust denial comments that appear under our posts commemorating the victims of Auschwitz would be a disservice to their memory. We’ve chosen to block users who promote denial and hatred. This decision stems from our deep dedication to our mission. We need a secure space to do this,” the response read. “Engaging in discussions with people and accounts that seek to abuse the memory of victims of Auschwitz is against the values we believe in. These individuals do not seek discourse; they aim to inflict pain. In this context, blocking is a necessary step to ensure that these harmful voices don’t persist in their repetitive attacks on memory.”
“In today’s digital age, social media platforms shoulder significant moral responsibility. They should actively counter hate speech and halt its normalization,” the post continued. “A platform that disregards the need to defend the memory of the victims demonstrates a disregard for creating a respectful and empathetic online environment. Blocking users isn’t a mere action; it’s a practical measure.”
“Often, reporting accounts that spread hostility remains an unanswered call. Blocking provides a way to protect the memory of people who suffered and were murdered in Auschwitz.”
Musk did not reveal when he will get rid of the blocking feature.
The move is among the many changes Musk made when he purchased Twitter last year for a whopping $44 billion. He immediately fired top executives and made massive layoffs.
Earlier this year, he rebranded the platform to X.
