Elon Musk mocks and blocks his own supporters amid block feature battle
An increasingly impulsive Elon Musk decides to end X's block feature on one of his many whims
Does Elon Musk have a strategy for X (née Twitter) beyond simply having piss-poor impulse control? That’s the question we’ve all been asking ourselves for almost a year now, and the best answer still seems to be “no.” Here’s the billionaire’s latest innovation for the platform: “Block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs,” he announced in the replies of a post from user “Tesla Owners Silicon Valley.”
Never mind that, as a community note on Musk’s post points out, getting rid of the block feature would put X in violation of Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store’s policies. Never mind, even, that some of Musk’s biggest supporters are against the move. When conservative commentator Matt Walsh posted that it was “not a good idea,” Musk insisted that the new version of the feature “will be better. Watch.” Actor James Woods, who “once championed” Musk (in his own words), also posted supporting the block feature, writing, “The man I thought was a defender of free speech is just another greedy capitalist. Disappointing, but not surprising.” Musk responded to Woods’ opinion with a snarky “Then delete your account.” And conservative poster “Catturd,” with whom Musk used to be friendly online, was simply blocked after voicing their dissent over getting rid of blocking.
“Pretty fun blocking people who complain that blocking is going away,” Musk posted on Sunday. “How does the medicine taste?”
It never ceases to thrill that one of the world’s largest social media platforms responds to critics like a middle schooler on the playground. Meanwhile, Linda Yaccarino, the adult in the room/adult to throw under the bus/X CEO, responded to similar concerns from anti-bullying activist Monica Lewinsky by writing, “Our users’ safety on X is our number one priority. And we’re building something better than the current state of block and mute. Please keep the feedback coming.” (Rest assured, poor Catturd decried the difference between “The response you get from X if you’re a liberal and want to keep the block feature … vs … the response you get from X if you’re a conservative and say the exact same thing.”)
Yaccarino is probably getting used to following Musk around, putting out his fires, and the trend certainly doesn’t appear to be declining any time soon. In fact, according to a New Yorker profile of the mogul from Ronan Farrow, Musk’s increased use of ketamine, “alongside his isolation and his increasingly embattled relationship with the press, might contribute to his tendency to make chaotic and impulsive statements and decisions.” One can only imagine what this special brand of leadership might lead to in the future.