Let people block and mute other users

How to do it

A report asks you to act, while a block lets the person protect themselves at once. The Commission's guidelines on protecting minors ask that children can block and mute any user. They also ask that nobody can add a child to a group without the child's consent. Offer both actions on every profile, message and post. Check blocks on the server in every path that carries content between two users, including search and suggestions. The blocked user sees the same as for a private account, and is never told. Keep a block until the user lifts it, and include the list in the data export. The report form of Put a report button on every piece of user content offers a block in the same step.

Examples

JavaScript example

export async function canReach(senderId, recipientId) {
  return !(await blocks.exists({ blockerId: recipientId, blockedId: senderId }));
}

app.post('/messages', async (req, res) => {
  if (!(await canReach(req.user.id, req.body.recipientId))) return res.status(404).end();
  res.status(201).json(await messages.create(req.user.id, req.body));
});

Python example

def can_reach(sender_id: int, recipient_id: int) -> bool:
    return not blocks.exists(blocker_id=recipient_id, blocked_id=sender_id)

@app.post("/messages", status_code=201)
def send_message(body: MessageBody, user: User = Depends(current_user)):
    if not can_reach(user.id, body.recipient_id):
        raise HTTPException(404)
    return messages.create(user.id, body)

How to check

A test has user A block user B. B's message, reply, mention, tag and group invite to A each fail, and A's feed and search show nothing from B. B's view of A shows no sign of a block. After A mutes user C instead, C's posts leave A's feed and C can still reply.

Sources

• European Commission guidelines on the protection of minors

Related rules

• TNS-1 Put a report button on every piece of user content in Trust and safety