diff --git a/features/api/usersettings/blacklist.feature b/features/api/usersettings/blacklist.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 290fc34..0000000
--- a/features/api/usersettings/blacklist.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,43 +0,0 @@
-Feature: Individual Blacklist
-  As a user
-  I want to click on a button to blacklist certain user profiles
-  In order to stop seeing user content of this account, because I don't like them
-
-  Background:
-    Given this is your user account:
-      | email            | password | isVerified |
-      | user@example.com |     1234 | true       |
-    And these user accounts exist:
-       | name  | email              | isVerified |
-       | Troll | troll@example.com  | true       |
-       | Legit | legit@example.com  | true       |
-    And you are authenticated
-
-
-  Scenario: Blacklist a user
-    When you create your user settings via POST request to "/usersettings" with:
-    """
-    {
-      "blacklist": ["5b5863e8d47c14323165718b"]
-    }
-    """
-    Then you will stop seeing posts of the user with id "5b5863e8d47c14323165718b"
-
-  Scenario: Filter out contributions of a blacklisted user
-    Given you blacklisted the user "Troll" before
-    When this user publishes a post
-    And you read your current news feed
-    Then this post is not included
-
-  Scenario: Show but conceal comments of a blacklisted user
-    Given you blacklisted the user "Troll" before
-    And there is a post "Hello World" by user "Legit"
-    And the blacklisted user wrote a comment on that post:
-    """
-    I hate you
-    """
-    When you read through the comments of that post
-    Then you will see a hint instead of a comment:
-    """
-    Comments of this blacklisted user are not visible.
-    """
diff --git a/features/step_definitions/steps.js b/features/step_definitions/steps.js
index fd8c237..3dd582c 100644
--- a/features/step_definitions/steps.js
+++ b/features/step_definitions/steps.js
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ let currentUserPassword;
 let httpResponse;
 let currentUserAccessToken;
 let lastPost;
-let blacklistedUser;
 
 function authenticate(email, plainTextPassword) {
   const formData = {
@@ -131,34 +130,6 @@ When('you create your user settings via POST request to {string} with:', functio
   postRequest(route, JSON.stringify(jsonBody), callback);
 });
 
-Then('you will stop seeing posts of the user with id {string}', function (blacklistedUserId) {
-  return this.app.service('usersettings').find({userId: currentUser._id.toString()}).then((settings) => {
-    expect(settings.total).to.eq(1);
-    expect(settings.data[0].blacklist).to.be.an('array').that.does.include(blacklistedUserId);
-  });
-});
-
-Given('you blacklisted the user {string} before', async function (blacklistedUserName) {
-  const res = await this.app.service('users').find({query: {name: blacklistedUserName}});
-  blacklistedUser = res.data[0];
-  const params = {
-    userId: currentUser._id,
-    blacklist: [blacklistedUser._id]
-  };
-  return this.app.service('usersettings').create(params);
-});
-
-When('this user publishes a post', function () {
-  const params = {
-    title: 'Awful title',
-    content: 'disgusting content',
-    language: 'en',
-    type: 'post',
-    userId: blacklistedUser._id
-  };
-  return this.app.service('contributions').create(params);
-});
-
 When('you read your current news feed', function (callback) {
   getRequest('/contributions', callback);
 });
@@ -181,15 +152,6 @@ Given('there is a post {string} by user {string}', async function (postTitle, us
   return lastPost;
 });
 
-Given('the blacklisted user wrote a comment on that post:', function (comment) {
-  const commentParams = {
-    userId: blacklistedUser._id,
-    content: comment,
-    contributionId: lastPost._id
-  };
-  return this.app.service('comments').create(commentParams);
-});
-
 When('you read through the comments of that post', function (callback) {
   getRequest('/comments', callback);
 });
diff --git a/server/hooks/conceal-blacklisted-data.js b/server/hooks/conceal-blacklisted-data.js
deleted file mode 100644
index baaf394..0000000
--- a/server/hooks/conceal-blacklisted-data.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
-const alterItems = require('../helper/alter-items');
-
-const defaults = {
-  blacklist: [],
-  data: {
-    content: 'You have blacklisted this user'
-  }
-};
-
-const handleItem = options => item => {
-  if (options.blacklist){
-    let found = options.blacklist.find((userId) => {
-      return String(userId) === item.userId;
-    });
-    if (found){
-      item = {...item, ...options.data};
-    }
-  }
-  return item;
-};
-
-module.exports = function concealBlacklistedData(options = defaults) {
-  return async function(hook){
-    if (hook.method === 'find' || hook.id === null) {
-      const authenticatedUser = hook.params.user;
-      if (!authenticatedUser){
-        return hook;
-      }
-      const usersettings = await hook.app.service('usersettings').find({query: {userId: authenticatedUser._id}});
-      if (usersettings.total <= 0){
-        return hook;
-      }
-      options.blacklist = usersettings.data[0].blacklist;
-      return alterItems(handleItem(options))(hook);
-    }
-
-    return hook;
-  };
-};
-
diff --git a/server/hooks/exclude-blacklisted.js b/server/hooks/exclude-blacklisted.js
deleted file mode 100644
index ea068db..0000000
--- a/server/hooks/exclude-blacklisted.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-module.exports = function excludeBlacklisted() {
-  return async function (hook) {
-    if (hook.type !== 'before') {
-      throw new Error('The \'excludeBlacklisted\' hook should only be used as a \'before\' hook.');
-    }
-
-    if (hook.method === 'find' || hook.id === null) {
-      const authenticatedUser = hook.params.user;
-      if (!authenticatedUser){
-        return hook;
-      }
-      const usersettings = await hook.app.service('usersettings').find({query: {userId: authenticatedUser._id}});
-      if (usersettings.total <= 0){
-        return hook;
-      }
-      const { blacklist } = usersettings.data[0];
-      if (blacklist) {
-        let { query } = hook.params;
-        query.userId = query.userId || {};
-        query.userId.$nin = blacklist;
-      }
-      return hook;
-    }
-
-    return hook;
-  };
-};
diff --git a/server/models/usersettings.model.js b/server/models/usersettings.model.js
index 93c17e3..98eed52 100644
--- a/server/models/usersettings.model.js
+++ b/server/models/usersettings.model.js
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ module.exports = function (app) {
   const mongooseClient = app.get('mongooseClient');
   const usersettings = new mongooseClient.Schema({
     userId: {type: String, required: true, unique: true},
-    blacklist: {type: Array, default: []},
     uiLanguage: {type: String, required: true},
     contentLanguages: {type: Array, default: []},
     filter: {
diff --git a/server/services/comments/comments.hooks.js b/server/services/comments/comments.hooks.js
index a6fdc5d..1821f66 100644
--- a/server/services/comments/comments.hooks.js
+++ b/server/services/comments/comments.hooks.js
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ const {
 const { isVerified } = require('feathers-authentication-management').hooks;
 const createExcerpt = require('../../hooks/create-excerpt');
 const patchDeletedData = require('../../hooks/patch-deleted-data');
-const concealBlacklistedData = require('../../hooks/conceal-blacklisted-data');
 const keepDeletedDataFields = require('../../hooks/keep-deleted-data-fields');
 const createNotifications = require('./hooks/create-notifications');
 const createMentionNotifications = require('./hooks/create-mention-notifications');
@@ -119,24 +118,10 @@ module.exports = {
     ],
     find: [
       populate({ schema: userSchema }),
-      protect('content', 'badgeIds'),
-      concealBlacklistedData({
-        data: {
-          content: 'Comments of this blacklisted user are not visible.',
-          contentExcerpt: 'Comments of this blacklisted user are not visible.',
-          hasMore: false
-        }
-      })
+      protect('content', 'badgeIds')
     ],
     get: [
-      populate({ schema: userSchema }),
-      concealBlacklistedData({
-        data: {
-          content: 'Comments of this blacklisted user are not visible.',
-          contentExcerpt: 'Comments of this blacklisted user are not visible.',
-          hasMore: false
-        }
-      })
+      populate({ schema: userSchema })
     ],
     create: [
       populate({ schema: userSchema }),
diff --git a/server/services/contributions/contributions.hooks.js b/server/services/contributions/contributions.hooks.js
index 03f2cc8..ff5e73d 100644
--- a/server/services/contributions/contributions.hooks.js
+++ b/server/services/contributions/contributions.hooks.js
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ const search = require('feathers-mongodb-fuzzy-search');
 const thumbnails = require('../../hooks/thumbnails');
 const isModerator = require('../../hooks/is-moderator-boolean');
 const excludeDisabled = require('../../hooks/exclude-disabled');
-const excludeBlacklisted = require('../../hooks/exclude-blacklisted');
 const getAssociatedCanDos = require('./hooks/get-associated-can-dos');
 const createMentionNotifications = require('./hooks/create-mention-notifications');
 const notifyFollowers = require('./hooks/notify-followers');
@@ -114,7 +113,6 @@ module.exports = {
       unless(isModerator(),
         excludeDisabled()
       ),
-      excludeBlacklisted(),
       when(isProvider('server'),
         includeAll()
       ),
diff --git a/server/services/usersettings/hooks/validate-blacklist.js b/server/services/usersettings/hooks/validate-blacklist.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 039fa53..0000000
--- a/server/services/usersettings/hooks/validate-blacklist.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-const { BadRequest } = require('@feathersjs/errors');
-
-const validateBlacklist = () => {
-  return async (hook) => {
-    const { data } = hook;
-    const blacklist = data.blacklist;
-    if (!blacklist) return hook;
-    const userId = data.userId;
-
-    if(blacklist && blacklist.includes(userId)) {
-      throw new BadRequest('You can not blacklist yourself.');
-    }
-
-    const users = await hook.app.service('users').find({query: {_id: {$in: blacklist}}});
-    const unblacklistable = users.data.find((user) => {
-      return (user.role === 'admin') || (user.role === 'moderator');
-    });
-    if (unblacklistable){
-      throw new BadRequest('You can not blacklist admin users or moderators.');
-    }
-    return hook;
-  };
-};
-module.exports = validateBlacklist;
diff --git a/server/services/usersettings/usersettings.hooks.js b/server/services/usersettings/usersettings.hooks.js
index 6fad29f..71fa9fe 100644
--- a/server/services/usersettings/usersettings.hooks.js
+++ b/server/services/usersettings/usersettings.hooks.js
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 const { restrictToOwner } = require('feathers-authentication-hooks');
 const mapCreateToUpsert = require('../../hooks/map-create-to-upsert');
-const validateBlacklist = require('./hooks/validate-blacklist');
 const { authenticate } = require('@feathersjs/authentication').hooks;
 
 module.exports = {
@@ -10,7 +9,6 @@ module.exports = {
     get: [],
     create:  [
       authenticate('jwt'),
-      validateBlacklist(),
       mapCreateToUpsert(context => {
         const { data } = context;
         return { userId: data.userId };
@@ -18,17 +16,14 @@ module.exports = {
     ],
     update: [
       authenticate('jwt'),
-      validateBlacklist(),
       restrictToOwner()
     ],
     patch: [
       authenticate('jwt'),
-      validateBlacklist(),
       restrictToOwner()
     ],
     remove: [
       authenticate('jwt'),
-      validateBlacklist(),
       restrictToOwner()
     ]
   },
diff --git a/test/hooks/exclude-blacklisted.test.js b/test/hooks/exclude-blacklisted.test.js
deleted file mode 100644
index b6faeaa..0000000
--- a/test/hooks/exclude-blacklisted.test.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,66 +0,0 @@
-const assert = require('assert');
-const feathers = require('@feathersjs/feathers');
-const excludeBlacklisted = require('../../server/hooks/exclude-blacklisted');
-
-let app;
-let usersettings = {};
-beforeEach(() => {
-  // Create a new plain Feathers application
-  app = feathers();
-
-  // Register a dummy custom service that just return the
-  // message data back
-  app.use('/usersettings', {
-    async find() {
-      return {
-        data: [usersettings]
-      };
-    }
-  });
-});
-
-describe('\'exclude-blacklisted\' hook', () => {
-  context('given a blacklist', () => {
-    let mock;
-    beforeEach(() => {
-      usersettings = { blacklist: ['4711'] };
-      mock = {
-        type: 'before',
-        method: 'find',
-        params: {
-          user: { _id: 'whatever' }
-        },
-        app
-      };
-    });
-
-    context('query param `userId` is an object', () => {
-      it('adds one key', () => {
-        mock.params.query = {
-          userId: { $ne: 'user id' }
-        };
-
-        const hook = excludeBlacklisted();
-        return hook(mock).then(result => {
-          assert.deepEqual(result.params.query.userId, {
-            $ne: 'user id',
-            $nin: ['4711']
-          });
-        });
-      });
-    });
-
-    context('query param `userId` is set to an exact id', () => {
-      it('has no effect', () => {
-        mock.params.query = {
-          userId: 'exact user id'
-        };
-
-        const hook = excludeBlacklisted();
-        return hook(mock).then(result => {
-          assert.deepEqual(result.params.query.userId, 'exact user id' );
-        });
-      });
-    });
-  });
-});
diff --git a/test/services/comments.test.js b/test/services/comments.test.js
index cb442fc..f1214ba 100644
--- a/test/services/comments.test.js
+++ b/test/services/comments.test.js
@@ -97,52 +97,27 @@ describe('\'comments\' service', () => {
         await service.create(data);
       });
 
-      context('who is not blacklisted', () => {
-        it('is visible', async () => {
-          const comments = await service.find(params);
-          const comment = comments.data[1];
-          assert.equal(comment.content, 'Original content');
-          assert.equal(comment.contentExcerpt, 'Original content');
-        });
-
-        context('usersettings exist, but without blacklist', () => {
-          beforeEach(async() => {
-            await usersettingsService.create({
-              userId: user._id
-            });
-          });
-
-          it('is visible', async () => {
-            const comments = await service.find(params);
-            const comment = comments.data[1];
-            assert.equal(comment.content, 'Original content');
-            assert.equal(comment.contentExcerpt, 'Original content');
-          });
-        });
+      it('is visible', async () => {
+        const comments = await service.find(params);
+        const comment = comments.data[1];
+        assert.equal(comment.content, 'Original content');
+        assert.equal(comment.contentExcerpt, 'Original content');
       });
 
-      context('who is blacklisted', () => {
+      context('usersettings exist', () => {
+        // we had a blacklist once, the test below was checking if certain
+        // attributes are unaltered
         beforeEach(async() => {
           await usersettingsService.create({
-            userId: user._id,
-            blacklist: [author._id]
+            userId: user._id
           });
         });
 
-        it('is concealed', async () => {
+        it('is visible', async () => {
           const comments = await service.find(params);
           const comment = comments.data[1];
-          assert.equal(comment.content, 'Comments of this blacklisted user are not visible.');
-          assert.equal(comment.contentExcerpt, 'Comments of this blacklisted user are not visible.');
-        });
-
-        context('but if user is not authenticated', () => {
-          it('is visible', async () => {
-            const comments = await service.find();
-            const comment = comments.data[1];
-            assert.equal(comment.content, 'Original content');
-            assert.equal(comment.contentExcerpt, 'Original content');
-          });
+          assert.equal(comment.content, 'Original content');
+          assert.equal(comment.contentExcerpt, 'Original content');
         });
       });
     });
diff --git a/test/services/contributions.test.js b/test/services/contributions.test.js
index 4bb08b2..b70dbb8 100644
--- a/test/services/contributions.test.js
+++ b/test/services/contributions.test.js
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ const service = app.service('contributions');
 const userService = app.service('users');
 const notificationService = app.service('notifications');
 const categoryService = app.service('categories');
-const usersettingsService = app.service('usersettings');
 const { userData, adminData } = require('../assets/users');
 const {
   contributionData,
@@ -191,27 +190,6 @@ describe('\'contributions\' service', () => {
           assert.equal(contributions.total, 2);
         });
       });
-
-      context('who is blacklisted', () => {
-        beforeEach(async() => {
-          await usersettingsService.create({
-            userId: user._id,
-            blacklist: [author._id]
-          });
-        });
-
-        it('is filtered', async () => {
-          const contributions = await service.find(params);
-          assert.equal(contributions.total, 1);
-        });
-
-        context('but if user is not authenticated', () => {
-          it('is not filtered', async () => {
-            const contributions = await service.find();
-            assert.equal(contributions.total, 2);
-          });
-        });
-      });
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/test/services/usersettings.test.js b/test/services/usersettings.test.js
index bf42dd8..1c16041 100644
--- a/test/services/usersettings.test.js
+++ b/test/services/usersettings.test.js
@@ -39,73 +39,6 @@ describe('\'usersettings\' service', () => {
         const usersettings = await service.create(data);
         assert.ok(usersettings);
       });
-
-      describe('blacklist', () => {
-        const testSetup = async (blacklistedUserData) => {
-          let blacklistedUser = await userService.create({
-            ...userData,
-            ...blacklistedUserData,
-            email: 'someoneelse@test.de',
-            name: 'Someone'
-          });
-          let data = {
-            userId: user._id,
-            blacklist: [blacklistedUser._id]
-          };
-          const usersettings = await service.create(data);
-          return usersettings[0].blacklist;
-        };
-
-        context('ordinary account', () => {
-          it('succeeds', async () => {
-            const blacklist = await testSetup({});
-            assert.equal(blacklist.length, 1);
-          });
-        });
-
-        context('own account', () => {
-          it('rejects', async () => {
-            try {
-              let data = {
-                userId: user._id,
-                blacklist: [user._id]
-              };
-              await service.create(data);
-            } catch(BadRequest) {
-              const usersettings = await service.find({userId: user._id});
-              assert.equal(usersettings.total, 0);
-              return;
-            }
-            assert.fail('Blacklisting yourself was not rejected');
-          });
-        });
-
-        context('moderator account', () => {
-          it('rejects', async () => {
-            try {
-              await testSetup({role: 'moderator'});
-            } catch(BadRequest){
-              const usersettings = await service.find({userId: user._id});
-              assert.equal(usersettings.total, 0);
-              return;
-            }
-            assert.fail('Blacklisting a moderator was not rejected');
-          });
-        });
-
-        context('admin account', () => {
-          it('rejects', async () => {
-            try {
-              await testSetup({role: 'admin'});
-            } catch(BadRequest){
-              const usersettings = await service.find({userId: user._id});
-              assert.equal(usersettings.total, 0);
-              return;
-            }
-            assert.fail('Blacklisting an admin user was not rejected');
-          });
-        });
-      });
     });
   });
 });