This weekend, X (formerly known as Twitter) announced that it is "starting to launch" a controversial change to the user blocking mechanism on the platform. Company owner Elon Musk first revealed these changes in September. They will allow people you have blocked to continue seeing your posts and your follower lists.
While users will now be able to see posts from accounts that have blocked them, their interaction capabilities will be severely limited. Blocked users will not be able to follow posts, like, reply, retweet, send direct messages, or engage with posts from the account that has blocked them.
Musk has stated that banning someone from viewing your public posts "makes no sense." Last month, X claimed that people who block others might say harmful things about the blocked individual, who would remain unaware of this. Accordingly, this change to the blocking rules ensures "greater transparency."
We're starting to launch the block function update https://t.co/qNYIudCrqb
— Engineering (@XEng) November 3, 2024
However, these new changes may make it easier for blocked users to continue stalking someone. As noted by Tracy Chow, who launched the anti-stalking tool Block Party, in a post on X: “...the point is that creating barriers is important!!! Making it easier for a stalker to follow is bad!!!”
Another concern is whether the updated blocking feature complies with app store guidelines. Apple’s instructions state that user-generated content applications must have "the ability to block aggressive users from using the service."
Google's recommendations are even more specific, stating that UGC (User-Generated Content) features allowing user interaction (such as direct messages, tagging, mentions, etc.) must include functionality for blocking users within the app. Furthermore, apps providing access to publicly available UGC, such as social networks and blogs, must implement functionality for reporting users and content, as well as blocking users.
Source: The Verge
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