Social media has become a bigger and bigger part of peoples’ lives over the last several years, and while that’s probably not a good development, it’s an undeniable one. Things that seem small to the outside observer can become major arguments inside the arena, and Elon Musk recently set off a big conflict with his desire to get rid of the block feature on X.
As RedState reported, the backlash was swift.
As he often does, Twitter/X CEO Elon Musk caused quite the commotion on Friday, casually throwing in a mention of his plan to get rid of the “block” feature in a reply to a tweet on the social media platform.
In response to a question from the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley account asking all Twitter users, “Is there ever a reason to block vs mute someone? Give your reasons,” Musk replied by tweeting, “Block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs.”
Of the feature, Musk later added, “It makes no sense.”
Enter James Woods, who was actually banned under the old Twitter regime for expressing his political opinions. In fact, he was targeted specifically according to disclosures from the now-infamous Twitter Files that came out in late 2022.
Woods put out a post criticizing Musk’s decision, though he was hardly unique given the overwhelming opposition to it.
Thank you. If @elonmusk removes the ability to block concerted harassment by trolls or organized political entities, how will “X” be any different from Jack Dorsey’s horrid Twitter?
Musk, whom I once championed, is only doing this to protect his advertisers anyway. Users of X… https://t.co/bR3oMU4f2P
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) August 19, 2023
Anyone that uses X regularly will understand Woods’ position. The site, whatever positives it has gained after Musk’s purchase of the platform formerly known as Twitter, is inundated with bots. Many of those bots swarm accounts that dare stray from certain preferred narratives (which are not always leftwing, by the way). There’s also a very large problem with pornography being shared in peoples’ mentions, though the filters do typically at least censor what’s posted behind a sensitive content label. The way to fight them and clean up one’s timeline is by blocking.
Musk responded by suggesting that Woods delete his account.
Then delete your account
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 20, 2023
That wasn’t a very popular suggestion, as Musk was ratioed for his trouble, at which point he then blocked Woods.
You prerogative, sir, which is exactly my point. Have a nice day. pic.twitter.com/qt8ZD3wbM9
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) August 20, 2023
I suppose that was done to try to prove a point, but it only seemed to be one that favored Woods’ position. I don’t have the same overly strong reaction to the block feature being deleted as many large X accounts do, but I do come down on the side of keeping it. It’s a needed tool against many of the current flaws of the platform.
If Musk is concerned about ads being blocked (right now, you can block the accounts of advertisers that show up in your timeline), he should just negate the ability to block ads specifically. Certainly, he shouldn’t turn on someone like Woods for having a negative reaction.
