February 12, 2026
Mute the mob, save your sanity
Shut Up: Comment Blocker
The button that nukes comment chaos—and people are loving the silence
TLDR: Shut Up is a free tool that hides website comments by default, with easy on/off and per‑site exceptions. Fans praise spoiler‑free, AI‑slop‑free browsing, while critics lament the “Dead Internet” and the loss of open discussion; Safari users swap tips to nuke popups and overlays.
Internet peace at last? Shut Up, a free app and browser add‑on powered by shutup.css, auto‑hides comment sections so you can browse without getting dragged into flame wars or spoiler swamps. The community reaction was instant: some cheered like they just discovered noise‑canceling headphones for the web, while others mourned the slow death of open discussion.
On the hype side, one fan celebrated using it to dodge sports and TV spoilers, calling it perfect for shutting out “blabbermouths.” Another went full dystopia, warning that as “more comments are just AI slop,” muting the mess is self‑care. Safari power users flexed with a hidden “Hide Distracting Items” menu to vaporize popups and those foggy overlays that block content—peak petty satisfaction. But not everyone wants total silence: critics pointed out the irony of showing Stack Overflow (a site where comments can actually help) in the promo, and a deep‑cut nostalgist declared, “Welcome to the Dead Internet,” blaming the shift from community chat to elite broadcasts.
The app promises privacy, easy toggles to peek at the chaos, and per‑site exceptions for places like GitHub or Stack Overflow. Designer Ricky Romero’s pitch is simple: sanity by default, drama on demand. The comment section, of course, turned this into a referendum on the future of online conversation—mute the mob, or mourn the town square?
Key Points
- •Shut Up is a free app and browser extension that hides website comments by default.
- •It runs on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and as extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera.
- •The tool is powered by Steven Frank’s shutup.css, injected into pages to suppress comments.
- •Users can whitelist constructive sites and easily toggle comment blocking via browser or system controls.
- •The extension does not track browsing; it only fetches stylesheet updates (omitted on Firefox) and requires activation on iOS/iPadOS 12+.