On Friday 18th August, the owner of X/Twitter, Elon Musk, tweeted his plans to delete the blocking feature from X.
Musk replied to a post on X that asked “Is there ever a reason to block vs mute someone?” with the news that Twitter will soon delete the blocking feature on the platform, except for direct messages.
For Musk, blocking someone “makes no sense.” However, at Childnet, we disagree and believe it is a much needed feature that helps keep Twitter users safe and able to enjoy the platform.
Why is blocking important on social media?
Blocking is an important feature of social media platforms because it gives young people more control over the content they see online. It also allows young people to decide who is able to see and interact with the content they post online and who can direct message them.
Giving young people some control over their online experiences increases their enjoyment of social media as a space to connect with friends and learn new things uninterrupted by upsetting content or users.
By removing the ability to block content and users, young people will face a barrier to having control over their own Twitter experiences, which could make them feel unsafe on the platform.
“If reporting fails, young people may feel like they have no other choice but to block out the problem until something is done about it.”
Childnet Digital Champion, aged 14
This could also make young people more vulnerable to harmful content and users. We worry that removing the blocking feature denies the idea that harmful users exist on Twitter and fear that the outcome will be more trolling, increased online hate and the potential for abuse.
Why is blocking better than muting someone on Twitter?
The only way to stop all forms of contact from someone on Twitter is by blocking them.
By blocking someone on Twitter, this means they can’t follow you, they can’t see your tweets, they can’t tweet you or send you tweets, they can’t retweet your tweets and importantly they can’t direct message you.
Currently, unlike any other social media platforms, on Twitter when you block someone and they click on your profile, they are able to see you have blocked them as they are unable to see any of your content.
Although it might seem that muting is better than blocking as the user won’t know you have muted them, this is not the case. As it is only by blocking profiles that young people can limit their contact and communication with potential abusers and avoid harmful online experiences.
Because when you mute someone on Twitter, they can still follow you and see your tweets, they can tweet you and send you tweets, they can retweet your tweets and they can direct message you.
What this means is the user can still contact and communicate with young people, which does not keep them safe.
If we want young people to enjoy Twitter in a safe and positive way, we at Childnet believe that not only should blocking remain a feature but it should be anonymous in the way muting is.
How can young people use the blocking feature on Twitter?
When young people ask us what they should do when they come across users on Twitter, who make them feel uncomfortable or upset, we tell them to report and block the user.
When young people ask us what to do when they are sent upsetting content, we tell them to report and block the user.
When young people ask us what to do when users violate Twitter’s terms of service, we tell them to report and block the user.
At Childnet for over 20 years we have been working to help make the internet a great and safe place for children and young people. Our standard advice to all young people is to report and block users when they feel unsafe online.
In 2021 we asked young people what their views on reporting online harms were and found that they are twice as likely to block someone behaving inappropriately online (44%) than report them (21%).
We offer this advice to all young people across different digital platforms, so if X goes ahead with this plan to remove their blocking feature, X will be the only platform where it will be impossible to follow our advice.
