"BlockElon" Trends on X After Musk Announces Plans to Make Blocked Posts Public

'BlockElon' rocketed to the top of the list of trending topics on X (formerly Twitter) following a post by CEO Elon Musk suggesting he plans to make blocked posts visible to all.

Earlier this week, independent app researcher Nima Owji posted, "BREAKING: X is about to remove the current block button, meaning that if an account is public, their posts will be visible to the blocked users as well!" Musk has hinted at making changes to the block feature in the past, but responded directly to Owji's tweet, confirming his plans.

"High time this happened," Musk wrote. "The block function will block that account from engaging with, but not block seeing, public post."

Owji later replied, "Good move! The block button for public accounts was a stupid feature since everyone could view the posts from their browsers' incognito mode."

But not everyone agreed. Users raised concerns as to how the change might impact safety on the site, given that many use the block feature to limit unwanted harassment.

Musk has remained a controversial figure on the site since his Oct. 2022 acquisition of Twitter, with both supporters and adversaries quick to engage on contentious topics.

One such adversary, a parody account with the handle @theliamnissan, reacted to news of an impending change to the block feature with a thinly veiled invitation to amplify the hashtag #BlockElon.

In the replies, some users reported that they were way ahead of him.

Within hours, the hashtag #BlockElon was trending.

Much to the amusement of his detractors.

Participants in the trend expressed their satisfaction, regardless of when they blocked the Tesla and SpaceX mogul.

The hashtag has since fallen off the trending topics ranking, but not before its champions celebrated reaching the top spot.

X has not yet announced when, or indeed if, the block button changes will take effect, nor has Musk commented on the hashtag.