Musk confirmed that posts containing links are deprioritized, renewing criticism that the platform is restricting access to external sources of information.

Summary

Elon Musk confirmed that X (formerly Twitter) deprioritizes posts containing links, encouraging users to post links in replies instead.

This practice, aimed at keeping users on the platform, has drawn criticism for restricting access to external information and harming media outlets’ traffic.

Past reports revealed X also delayed links to rival platforms and news outlets, prompting concerns about press freedom and revenue impacts.

The Guardian recently left X, labeling it “toxic,” while other media and free speech advocates accuse the platform of enabling disinformation and controlling narratives.

  • Kalcifer@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    28 days ago

    Just write a description in the main post and put the link in the reply. This just stops lazy linking.

    I agree with Elon’s sentiment in this (though sticking a link in a reply is kind’ve inelegant — imo, Lemmy would be better for this, as it has a separate title and body). This is something that bothers me on Lemmy; I’m not super fond of the practice of simply copy-pasting articles from news sites into posts; it feels very lazy and spammy. Lemmy is under no obligation to repeat the clickbait and misinformation that a news site may be compelled to use. When an article is shared, I think that it should, in general, be used as a source to back up a claim rather than the entire post itself. Posts should be human oriented rather than just an outlet for news spam.