Elon Musk: Blocked users will now be able to see your posts on X

Musk confirmed the change in a reply to Nima Owji, a web developer who first reported the news.

"BREAKING: X is about to remove the current block button, meaning that if an account is public, their posts will be visible to the blocked users as well!" Owji wrote. 

Elon replied: "High time this happened. The block function will block that account from engaging with, but not block seeing, public posts." 

Since its inception, the block feature on Twitter, X’s former moniker, allowed users to prevent individuals from viewing or engaging with their public posts. With the change, blocked accounts will be able to view the blocker’s posts once again, but cannot engage with the content via likes, replies, reposts, or direct messages. 

Musk actually threatened last year to kill all features of the block, save for a blocked user being able to DM the blocker. He also threatened to stop letting users block people on the platform completely, except for direct messages. 

Though the updated block feature prevents potential bad actors from causing trouble on X, anyone will soon be able to easily view information on the site and utilize it offline or via another site. 

Someone can now easily screen-capture a post on X from an account that previously blocked them, for instance, and repost it on Threads, Facebook, or Instagram.

After Elon's suggestion, thousands of X users expressed their concerns with the move, with a majority of commenters pointing to the issue of harassment on the platform.

"Eh, I am not a fan of this to say the least," Jeremy Clark, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, wrote. "Too easy for bad actors to simply take a screenshot and urge their non-blocked followers to harass an account."

"With respect, I think this is a bad idea," popular rapper Zuby replied. "There are many reasons somebody may not want certain individuals from easily seeing all their public posts. There are some REALLY bad actors on social media, sadly."

Currently, X displays a “You’re blocked” message when someone attempts to view the profile of a user who has blocked them and does not permit the blocked user to see the account's followers, replies, or following list.

According to The Verge, X is introducing this change because users can already see posts from individuals who have blocked them by using another account or when logged out.

Elon Musk previously stated that the block feature “makes no sense” and suggested it needs to be deprecated in favour of a stronger form of mute.

Twitter transitioned to the X domain in June this year following a rebranding in July 2023, shortly after Elon Musk became CEO of the social media platform.

This is the latest in a long list of contentious changes Musk has made to the platform since acquiring it in October 2022 – not least, changing its name from the original, Twitter.

One of his earlier moves was the reinstating of thousands of banned accounts, including those of far-right activists, racists, conspiracy theorists and white supremacists. 

The original “blue tick” Twitter system was also retired in favour of X Premium.