Elon Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) has made changes to the block feature on the platform. This came after the platform announced its decision to change the way the block feature works last month. User the new system, blocked users can see the profile, posts, as well as followers, and following lists of the users who had blocked them.
Blocking users on social media platforms has typically functioned in a uniform manner. Once a user is blocked, they are unable to view the profile of the person who has blocked them. Consequently, they cannot interact with their posts, access their bio or other details, and cannot send private messages.
However, last month, X announced a change to its longstanding blocking feature. According to the updated policy, blocked users will still be able to view the profile and posts of the user who has blocked them, although they will not have the ability to reply, retweet, or like those posts. Additionally, they remain unable to send direct messages (DMs).
The previous version of the policy did not address followers or following lists, but the new support page clarifies that blocked users will now have access to view these lists, further diminishing the safety measures for users. In explaining this change, the official Engineering page of X stated, “Today, block can be used by users to share and hide harmful or private information about those they’ve blocked. Users will be able to see if such behavior occurs with this update, allowing for greater transparency.”
Many users of the platform are worried about this change. They see it as a risk to their safety and believe it may lead to more content theft.
Meanwhile, Meta is creating a new way to identify teens who lie about their age on Instagram. This feature will use AI to introduce a tool called the “adult classifier.” This tool will find users under 18 and will automatically apply Instagram’s stricter privacy settings to their accounts.
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