Elon is kneecapping blocking, in blow to Twitter privacy

Key Takeaways

• Elon Musk's impending Twitter change will allow blocked users to see posts but not engage, sparking concerns.
• The move could potentially enable stalking and harassment due to reduced privacy.
• Uncertainty exists regarding the function's application to all account types.

Twitter's metamorphosis into the oligarch's playground and right-wing amplification platform known as X continues, with billionaire genius Elon Musk announcing today that blocked users won't exactly be blocked, after all (via The Verge). Instead of making your entire account essentially invisible to undesired viewers, blocking will now only prevent them "from engaging with, but not block seeing, public post. [sic]"

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While neither the first nor second time Musk has called for a similar change, circumstances imply the move is more decisive this time. Backing slightly away from previous threats to completely remove the feature, and instead allowing blocks to continue preventing engagement, should somewhat hedge the chaos of stalking and harassment that the feature's outright removal would likely enable.

Granted, it was never prohibitively difficult to simply make a new account and use the sock puppet to keep tabs on an unwitting subject. When Twitter began requiring users to log in to view many accounts last year, though, one side effect included increased privacy. Bad actors, particularly those acting impulsively, had one more hoop to jump through to follow some activity.

That hoop likely exists no more, with Twitter's block function now possibly reduced to essentially a redundant mute button. Android Police typically avoids featuring individual social media users' reactions as breaking news, but notes the overwhelming user response to Musk's stalker-friendly decision fell somewhere in the range of "this is not good" to "this is the worst idea ever", with varying levels of colorful and exemplary reasons why, in between.

Exact functionality of the revised block feature is unclear for now, however, and it may or may not apply to all account types. At press time, Musk was not readily available to reply for comment, which is probably for the best.

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