How to turn off the feature on X that people are freaking out about
- X made its calling feature available to all users last week.
- Video and audio calls are turned on by default, but users are going out of their way to disable them.
X's calling feature has users running to their settings.
The social-media site rolled out its calling capabilities Wednesday to all X users, and a community note was quickly added to the official announcement post as a warning about privacy concerns.
On its help site, X says that by default, the calls are "routed peer-to-peer such that each party's IP address may be visible to the other." Previously, only premium X members were able to make calls on the app.
The note sent some people into a panic about their IP addresses — the unique number assigned to your device when it's connected to the internet — being visible to anyone who calls them via X.
Several posts telling users to toggle off the feature went viral in the days following its release. The calling feature is on by default, so you'll have to adjust it yourself if you want to change it.
If you're looking to further protect your privacy, there are a couple of options that can be found in your X settings.
Disable calls on X altogether
If you'd rather avoid receiving calls on X altogether, you can disable them in three steps.
Go to your direct-messages tab.
Click the settings icon in the top-right corner.
Find the "enable audio and video calling" button and switch it off.
Enable enhanced call privacy
For those who want to play around with the calling feature on X without worrying about their IP addresses being accessible, there's an enhanced-privacy setting.
Go to your direct-messages tab.
Click the settings icon in the top-right corner.
Make sure you have audio and video calling enabled.
Find the "enhanced call privacy" button and turn it on.
According to X, users who turn on this feature will have their IP address masked when they're on a call.
You can also control who's able to call you based on whether you follow them, if they're in your address book, or if they're verified.