The popular social media platform ๐ has updated their privacy policy, allowing blocked users to see the public posts from users who blocked them. This update has led to wide controversy over social media.
๐ is one of the worldโs largest social media platforms popular for their brief messages and posts. It is one of the known online mediums for sharing peopleโs points of view with the public. In their recent โHelp Center Pageโ update the company describes how their blocking feature works. The changed blocking feature allows blocked users to view the posts of their blockers unless they own a private account. The posts can only be viewed but canโt be shared, reposted, or commented on.
This update questions the privacy of users within the ๐ platform, which brings a sense of insecurity in sharing thoughts. A blocked user gets to know they have been blocked by the user when they view their profile, however, they canโt follow each other.
โAccounts you have blocked canโt follow you or you can’t follow them either. Blocking an account currently you are following will make you unfollow them and they unfollow you. If you change your mind and unblock them you will have to follow that account againโ, according to reports from ๐.
Earlier a blocked user had to create another account to stalk the user who blocked them to see their posts since the previous blocking mechanism didnโt allow users to view the content from a blocked account. According to X, the change aims to protect the blocked users, as this blocking feature allows users to share and hide harmful or private information of the users they have blocked without them knowing about the happenings.
However, many came against this change criticising this update will affect the victims and survivors of abuse. Tracy Chou, the launcher of the anti-harassment tool block party said, โLetting creepers creep is not a good thingโ. Also, the new update is against the Apple Store rules, according to Appleโs guidelines, userโs content must have the ability to block abusive users from enjoying the service.
Though the update was already known for the lineup, a fast rollout concerns many. The only option to stay out of the reach of blocked users is to keep the account private. To change the settings to private, users can head into Settings and Privacy, followed by Privacy and Safety. From Privacy and Safety choose Audience, media, and tagging. From there check Protect your posts to go private.
X is owned by Elon Musk and was known as Twitter before the acquisition. Musk bought the popular social media platform for $44 billion aiming to promote free speech through the platform. Since Muskโs takeover, the platform has been criticized for promoting disinformation and hate speech. According to reports the value of the company declined 71.5% from its bought price and the global usage has declined by 15% which is 5 to 10% in other competent social media platforms. The platform has lost 80% of its value since Muskโs takeover, however, according to Musk, the membership has grown to 600 million users.
