Musk Faces Controversy Over Removal of 'Abuse and Stalking Prevention Features' on X

Controversy Over Announcement to Remove X Account Blocking Feature
Potential Conflict with App Store Guidelines... Google and Apple Unresponsive

Elon Musk's social networking service (SNS) X (formerly Twitter) appears to be removing the feature that allows users to block other accounts.

According to major foreign media and AFP, Musk posted on X on the 18th (local time) that "blocking as a 'feature' will be removed except for DMs."

The photo shows Musk attending the 2023 Viva Technology event held on June 16 at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

X users were previously able to use the block feature to restrict certain accounts from viewing their posts or following them. When a user blocked another user, a warning was sent to the blocked account.

Musk plans to keep the "mute" feature, which allows users to hide specific accounts from their view, but will change it so that no warnings are sent.

When a user pointed out in response to Musk's post that "blocking functions as a basic safety measure to protect victims of abuse and stalking, so removing it compromises the safety of many on SNS," Musk replied, "That makes no sense."

Major foreign media reported that while Musk portrays himself as a free speech advocate, some critics argue that this approach is irresponsible. They also mentioned studies showing that hate speech and anti-Semitic content have increased on X since Musk became the owner. Furthermore, they noted that removing or restricting the block feature could conflict with the guidelines of the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Apple specifies that apps with user-generated content must have a feature to block abusers. Google requires apps to have an "in-app system" that blocks content and users.

However, neither Google nor Apple responded to requests for comments related to X.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.