The social media platform X announced on Wednesday that it will now hide ‘likes’ on users’ posts to enhance privacy.
Users can still see their own liked posts, but others won’t be able to see who liked someone else’s posts. Like counts and other metrics will still be visible under notifications for the user’s posts. Elon Musk, the owner of X, described this update as an “important change.” Haofei Wang, X’s director of engineering, mentioned that the likes function previously encouraged negative behavior, as users were often hesitant to like ‘edgy’ content for fear of backlash.
This update is part of a series of changes since Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of X in late 2022. Under Musk’s ownership, X has significantly reduced content moderation and reinstated previously banned accounts, including those of former US President Donald Trump and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. While Musk argues these changes support free speech, critics claim they promote hateful rhetoric and misinformation. Additionally, X recently updated its guidelines to permit the sharing of consensual and clearly labeled sexual content.