X is developing dislike button for downvoting replies: report

Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is reportedly working on a downvoting feature intended to enhance the ranking of replies.

Although the company has not officially announced these plans, recent findings suggest that the downvote feature may resemble a ‘dislike’ button rather than a Reddit-style downvote icon, according to TechCrunch.

Code references discovered in the X iOS app reveal a button that looks like a broken heart icon next to the platform’s heart-shaped ‘like’ button, along with direct mentions of a ‘downvote’ feature.

The feature, which was initially tested by the company in 2021 before Musk's acquisition, has resurfaced in recent developments. Earlier this month, reverse engineer Aaron Perris, known as @aaronp613 on X, found references to a downvote feature in the X iOS app. He has now uncovered additional image files suggesting the button may be styled as a broken heart, alongside more explicit references to the feature itself.

The company originally tested both upvoting and downvoting buttons across all posts. However, recent tests indicate that X is now only considering the downvote option for replies.

In June, Musk confirmed the introduction of a new feature that would hide all likes by default for X users.