Twitter users will no longer be able to link to certain rival social media websites, including what the company described Sunday as \u201cprohibited platforms\u201d Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the latest move by Twitter\u2019s new owner Elon Musk to\u00a0crack down on certain speech\u00a0after he shut down a Twitter account last week that was\u00a0tracking the flights\u00a0of his private jet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe know that many of our users may be active on other social media platforms; however, going forward, Twitter will no longer allow free promotion of specific social media platforms on Twitter,\u201d the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The banned platforms include mainstream websites such as Facebook and Instagram,\u00a0and upstart rivals\u00a0Mastodon, Tribel, Nostr, Post and former President Donald Trump\u2019s Truth Social. Twitter gave no explanation for why the blacklist included those seven websites but not others such as Parler, TikTok or LinkedIn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twitter said it will at least temporarily suspend accounts that include the banned websites in their profile. However, the practice is so widespread that it\u2019s not clear if \u2014 or how \u2014 the company will enforce the restrictions on Twitter\u2019s millions of users around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twitter is also banning promotions of third-party social media link aggregators such as Linktree, which some people use to show where they can be found on different websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twitter previously took action to block links to one of its rivals, Mastodon, after its main Twitter account tweeted about the @ElonJet controversy last week. Mastodon has grown rapidly in recent weeks as an alternative for Twitter users who are unhappy with Musk\u2019s overhaul of Twitter since he bought the company for $44 billion in late October and began restoring accounts that ran afoul of the previous Twitter leadership\u2019s rules against hateful conduct and other harms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some Twitter users have included links to their new Mastodon profile and encouraged followers to find them there. That\u2019s now banned on Twitter, as are attempts to bypass restrictions such as by spelling out \u201cinstagram dot com\u201d and a username instead of a direct website link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta didn\u2019t return requests for comment Sunday. Twitter said it will still allow \u201cpaid advertisement\/promotion\u201d from the otherwise banned platforms, as well as \u201ccross-posting\u201d some content originating from the banned sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Musk permanently banned the @ElonJet account on Wednesday, then changed Twitter\u2019s rules to prohibit the sharing of another person\u2019s current location without their consent. He then took aim at journalists who were writing about the jet-tracking account, which can still be found on other sites including Mastodon, Facebook, Instagram and Truth Social, alleging that they were broadcasting \u201cbasically assassination coordinates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He used that to justify Twitter\u2019s moves last week to\u00a0suspend the accounts of numerous journalists\u00a0who cover the social media platform and Musk, among them reporters working for The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Voice of America and other publications. Many of those accounts were restored following an online poll by Musk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, over the weekend, The Washington Post\u2019s Taylor Lorenz became the latest journalist to be temporarily banned from Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lorenz said she and another Post technology reporter were researching an article concerning Musk. She had tried to communicate with the billionaire but the attempts went unanswered, so she tried to contact him Saturday by posting a message on Twitter tagging Musk and requesting an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The specific topic was not disclosed in the tweet, although it was in response to Musk tweeting about an alleged incident earlier in the week involving a \u201cviolent stalker\u201d in Southern California and Musk\u2019s claims that journalists were revealing his family\u2019s location by referencing the jet-tracker account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When she went back later Saturday to check whether there was a response on Twitter, Lorenz was met with a notification that her account was \u201cpermanently suspended.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI won\u2019t say I didn\u2019t anticipate it,\u201d Lorenz said in a phone interview early Sunday with The Associated Press. She said she wasn\u2019t given a specific reason for the ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sally Buzbee, The Washington Post\u2019s executive editor, said in a written statement Sunday that the \u201carbitrary suspension of another Post journalist further undermines Elon Musk\u2019s claim that he intends to run Twitter as a platform dedicated to free speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAgain, the suspension occurred with no warning, process or explanation \u2014 this time as our reporter merely sought comment from Musk for a story,\u201d Buzbee said. \u201cPost journalists should be reinstated immediately, without arbitrary conditions.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By midday Sunday, Lorenz\u2019s account was restored, as was the tweet she thought had triggered her suspension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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