This was announced on Friday by its owner, Elon Musk, in response to a question from a user who asked why someone was being blocked on the social network. Musk, who acquired Twitter last year for $44 billion and embarked on a major reboot of the platform, said it’s still possible to block private messages, but it will be removed as a “feature,” according to Bloomberg.
Blocking has been a popular security tool that helps users protect themselves from unwanted interactions on X. It ensures that blocked accounts don’t see your messages and that your messages don’t appear in your feed. A locked account also can’t send you direct messages. People will still be able to mute other accounts, which means they won’t see messages from that user. But a blocked account can see the person’s messages, reply to them, and repost them with comments for their followers. These users can also send direct messages.
Musk canceled the security policy that was on Twitter. He also fired content moderators and reinstated previously banned users who violated the previous rules. Advertisers left the platform, resulting in a 50 percent drop in ad revenue. In response to criticism of how the changes have impacted the platform’s security, X CEO Linda Iaccarino said that “more than 99 percent of the content users and advertisers see on Twitter is healthy.” She did not disclose what she defines as “healthy content” or how the company calculates this measure.
