Facebook finally lets users block Mark Zuckerberg
Until recently, all attempts to do so would fail, causing an error message to appear
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Facebook is finally allowing users to block Mark Zuckerberg.
Until recently, all attempts to do so would fail, causing an error message to appear, saying: “Block Error. Sorry, there was a problem blocking Mark Zuckerberg. Please try again.”
However, the site has now fixed the longstanding issue.
Now, when you visit Mr Zuckerberg’s page and click Block, a popup box appears, reading, “Are you sure you want to block Mark Zuckerberg?
“Mark Zuckerberg will no longer be able to:
- See things you post on your timeline
- Tag you
- Invite you to events or groups
- Start a conversation with you
- Add you as a friend
“If you’re friends, blocking Mark Zuckerberg will also unfriend him.”
The message also suggests taking “a break” from Zuckerberg instead, which will result in you seeing fewer updates from him, rather than none at all. It's the same set of messages a user would see if they tried to block any one of their friends.
Facebook users’ newfound ability to block Mark Zuckerberg was first spotted by The Next Web’s Matt Navarra.
Users haven't been able to block Mark Zuckerberg for years, and Facebook has always maintained that the company's founder wasn't receiving preferential treatment.
Instead, the error message had been designed to automatically pop up when large numbers of people simultaneously tried to block the same user.
“This error isn’t specific to any one account,” a Facebook spokesperson said earlier this year. “It’s generated when a person has been blocked a certain large number of times. In very rare instances, a viral campaign will develop instructing lots of people to all wrongly block the same person.
“The purpose of this system is to protect the experience for people targeted by these campaigns. We’re constantly working to improve our systems and are taking a closer look at this one.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments