Elon Musk ruffled feathers when he bought Twitter for $44 billion.
The majority of his critics have been on the Left.
But Musk and one conservative Hollywood actor got into a shocking fight.
Elon Musk has made a number of changes since taking over Twitter.
For starters, Musk inexplicably changed the name of the company to “X,” branding which has not at all caught on.
Musk also announced that he would be getting rid of the block feature; blocking an individual means he or she cannot engage with the blocker’s account.
Twitter users with big followings regularly block trolls or whoever else they do not want cluttering their feed.
Musk’s decision on the block feature has high-follower accounts concerned
Musk announced, “Blocking is going to be deleted as a ‘feature,’ except for DMs,” adding that the feature “makes no sense.”
The announcement rankled Hollywood actor James Woods, who was dropped by his agent after speaking out in support of Donald Trump and criticizing Democrats like Hillary Clinton.
Woods responded, “If Elon Musk removes the ability to block concerted harassment by trolls or organized political entities, how will ‘X’ be any different from Jack Dorsey’s horrid Twitter? Musk, whom I once championed, is only doing this to protect his advertisers anyway. Users of X are mere pawns to turn the site into an electronic shopping mall. The man I thought was a defender of free speech is just another greedy capitalist. Disappointing, but not surprising.”
Musk flippantly responded, “Then delete your account.”
Musk also blocked Woods and others who criticized his decision.
A string of confusing decisions emanating from “free speech absolutist” Elon
Woods’s criticism that Musk is placating advertisers was a concern that others raised when Musk named Linda Yaccarino CEO.
Yaccarino had previously worked at NBC Universal where she pushed “progressive” social justice initiatives, which made conservatives instantly skeptical.
However, Musk could be planning to roll out a better feature, which wouldn’t be the first time that Twitter functionality concerns under Musk’s leadership turned out to be unfounded.
Monica Lewinsky pleaded to Musk and Yaccarino, “[P]lease rethink removing the block feature. As an anti-bullying activist (and target of harassment) I can assure you it’s a critical tool to keep people safe online.”
Yaccarino replied, “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.”
So the block feature is going away, but a suitable replacement could be coming down the pike.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
