Elon Musk was insinuating that he was doing away with the block functionality. Guess what – after plenty of hyping and several statements that suggest its departure, ‘blocking’ is here to stay. For context, check out this Tweet by Musk. Again, after all that, it seems that X won’t be removing the blocking function after all.
Blocked Advance
X cannot remove content blocking because of potential violations of Apple and Google Play Store guidelines. X, despite its size, would be incapacitated should it go against either app store. For complete disclosure, you can check out the Apple Store guidelines here. Likewise, you can view Google Play Store guidelines here.
Anyone who has read Apple’s App Store guidelines can say that the wording is somewhat vague. Part of Apple’s genius marketing seems to include ambiguous definitions. App store guidelines do not stipulate whether individual users or a service can block users. However, the inference is clear and is not up for interpretation within Play Store listings.
That said, Musk has seemingly been allowed to bend such rules in the past, like naming conventions and content moderation. With that, it is possible that Musk can potentially manipulate them again, though it seems like a step too far. Neither Apple nor Google would allow such a decision.
So, the burning question remains – why does Musk want to remove blocks anyway? The answer – it reduces ad impressions by limiting content exposure. That seems to be the overarching rationale behind Musk’s decision to try and get rid of blocks. Furthermore, Musk also complained that supporting block lists is problematic for X’s systems. Perhaps that was his motivation, perhaps not. It is still not entirely clear, but that is no surprise, given Musk’s propensity for mystery.
New X CEO Linda Yaccarino is currently in damage control mode, attempting to soften Musk’s statements. Then again, reassurance might fare better than softening at this point because of existing app store guidelines. Musk seems to be stretching Yaccarino’s advertising expertise to encompass new fronts. It is a prime opportunity for Yaccarino to leave her mark on the company, but will also prove challenging.
The Wrap
The attempted removal of blocks is another case of Musk firing ideas off without thinking. To his credit, such a gung-ho approach nets him more attention, which also somewhat improves X’s visibility. Again, while it was Musk’s intent, the removal of blocking will not happen. If X wants to be more appealing, sabotaging its own security will not likely help.
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