Musk’s plan to axe X’s block button is a real win for stalkers and abusers

S ince he took over X (formerly Twitter) in 2022, Elon Musk has taken numerous steps that reduce the safety and moderation of the social network, including letting extremist voices back online while cutting the safety team in the name of free speech.

Now, Musk appears ready to trash one of X’s few remaining safety mechanisms: the block button. The billionaire this week posted his hoped-for change that “the block function will block that account from engaging with, but not block seeing, a public post.”

Journalist James Ball noted that this is not the first time that Musk has made similar threats to reimagine the block function, suggesting it may be a false alarm. It is also worth noting that it has always been possible to view a blocked account by creating a new account and using that to view the blocked content, although this requires a bit of effort.

As a female journalist, being targeted on X has long been part of the job description. It shouldn’t be, but ask any of us and you’ll hear the same story. From dealing with name-calling, hate speech, and threats, as well as pile-ons and more than one targeted harassment campaign, the block button has often been my friend.

The function is not perfect: when you are the target of a coordinated pile-on, you can’t block accounts faster than the abuse is rolling in. But at least you can click that button and know that you have put up a barrier between yourself and those sending online hate.

For victims and survivors of stalking and domestic abuse, removing the block button presents a much more significant danger.

One in five respondents to a 2022 survey by Women’s Aid on tech abuse said an abuser or stalker had used their online accounts, including social media, to monitor what they were doing or where they were during the first year of the COVID pandemic alone.

One respondent said their stalker or abuser “watched everything I did on my social media … Followed lots of my friends to see what I was doing. Stalked my family and friends via social media.”

Another wrote how their perpetrator “used social media and all contact points to terrorise me, send over 100 messages on various platforms every day.”

Although we do not know the women’s situations – for example, a woman in an abusive relationship may be unable to use the block button due to other safety concerns – in theory, the blocking function allows X users to prevent or at least mitigate this kind of harassing behaviour.

Without it, victims and survivors have fewer tools to protect their online space. While that is frightening enough, online abuse can spill into real life attacks too, with abusers using social media to track where their victim might be, and ensuring they are in the same place.

One in three women has experienced online abuse, according to the domestic abuse charity Refuge, which has launched a tech safety website to better support victims. That’s 11 million women in the UK.

Of these, one in six has faced this form of abuse from a current or former partner. While the majority of the abuse took place on other websites, such as Facebook or Instagram, 8% said they were targeted via X.

The impact of online abuse, Refuge found, included victims and survivors feeling fear, anxiety, shame and isolation. One in 10 felt suicidal as a result of the abuse.

Of course, plenty would argue that if people are so afraid of being abused and stalked online, they should just get off X. But why should women – and all the data shows that the majority of those abused online are women – give up social media, because of the threats we face? Why is it the responsibility of women to remove ourselves from public space, in order to be safe from threats and violence? Telling victims or those at risk of abuse to get off social media just gives free rein to the perpetrators. It does nothing to stop them.

It is hard to describe to someone who has not been targeted or stalked online, just how frightening it is to be told the block button could be taken away, and that someone who is threatening your wellbeing and sense of safety – and has threatened to take their abuse offline – will be able to see your content, share it, and use it to target you once again.

From being able to put a shield up between you and the random strangers (and bots) that scream abuse at you, to being able to prevent a very real threat from monitoring your online activity, the block button is an imperfect tool, but – I would argue – a needed one.

Take it away, and a lot of women will be seriously questioning how safe it is for them to remain on the site. Which is frustrating, as that is exactly what our abusers and stalkers – as well as Musk’s far-right cheerleaders – want.

GOING FURTHER

• Elon Musk removes X block button as users fear return of ‘creeps’ | THE INDEPENDENT

• Twitter Users Angry As Elon Musk Seeks To Ax 'Block' Button | THE HUFFPOST

• Elon Musk is removing the block button on X / Twitter | INDY100

Sources:

▪ This piece was first published in openDemocracy and re-published in PUBLIC SQUARE UK on 3 October 2024 under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. | The author writes in a personal capacity.

▪ Cover: Flickr/UK Government-Marcel Grabowski. (Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.)