In a major change of stance, and for the first time in its existence, Twitter is adopting a walled off approach. If only it were all possible in the world of social media, but here we are. Twitter has marched out of the social media playground. In a sudden policy change, the Elon Musk-led social media company has now said that Twitter will no longer allow users to post links to any other social media sites.
There are limited (and confusing; expect no less) exceptions to this new Cobbled Together rule. If the rule still exists.
Read also:Elon Musk has finally asked in his latest Twitter poll: ‘Should I quit…?’
Facebook, Instagram are the usual suspects, but so is the new crop of Twitter alternatives, including Mastodon and Post. Even Donald Trump’s Truth Social. Important to note that at the time of writing this, Twitter’s official tweet announcing this change as well as online posts detailing the new policy are unavailable – tweet has been removed (a growing phenomenon in Musk era Twitter) And the policy details webpage is unavailable.
Users are no longer able to share links to another social media platform in Tweets – an error message will pop-up if you try. For some reason YouTube, TikTok, OnlyFans, Telegram and Weibo are safe for now. Third-party link aggregators like LinkTree and Lnk.bio are also banned.
If you’re baffled, you’re not quite alone.
To a large extent, how content creators react to the new ban against cross-posting content in their social media presence, which Twitter is now setting aside, remains to be seen. The initial wave of criticism may provide a clue. It will be interesting to see if social media companies including Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, take reactive steps.
In one of the typical bubbling policy implementations we’ve become familiar with over the past few months, Twitter was called out by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who blew the whistle on top-secret NSA documents. Paul Graham, a scientist, had his Twitter account blocked, only to mention the mastodon and his mastodon profile in tweets. Incidentally, that tweet included a link to Twitter’s new policy.
“Paul’s account will be restored shortly,” said Elon Muskin one answer.
Mind you, Twitter is perfectly fine with paid promotion for these banned accounts. At least that’s what was indicated before the policy became unavailable.
“We recognize that some social media platforms provide alternative experiences to Twitter, and allow users to post content from these platforms to Twitter. In general, cross-posting of any kind on our platforms violates this policy. does not infringe, even from the prohibited sites listed above. Additionally, we allow paid advertising/promotion for any prohibited social media platforms.
A great point from Twitter’s new content policy – it’s not just the links that are wrong now. You may not add any handles or usernames from other social media platforms. For example, you won’t be able to Tweet your new coordinates on Mastodon or Post.
There is also a poll on Elon Musk’s official Twitter account i.e. Live now, asking whether he should leave the post of CEO of Twitter. Musk has however clarified, “I will follow up on the results of this survey.” History has not been kind to Kasturi and the facts about the Twitter poll, a recent poll again, asking users how long account bans should last for certain journalists. “Too many choices,” he realized, after the results came in.
At this point, “yes” is winning by a huge margin.
To be honest, this poll is not telling anything new. Murmurs have persisted since Musk’s reluctant take-over, that his time as CEO is only temporary. It could be a matter of choosing the executive who will succeed him, whether it’s a promotion from within the Twitter fold, or hiring an executive. We could be close to either scenario, so time to vote.
Till the time of writing this, 11,064,305 votes had been cast. And the count’s on. The clock is ticking, only a few hours are left.
It’s either the search for a new CEO is complete, or the pressure is mounting on a topic Musk refuses to acknowledge in his tweets. Electric car company Tesla has seen its share price this week hit a 52-week low of around $150 per share. It is hovering around $150.23 today. Amidst the big picture, it is down 49.92% from a year ago.
You should take Elon Musk’s announcements with a generous dose of salt, though. Prior to restoring several accounts banned by Twitter, including former US President Donald Trump, his previous promise was that “there will be no major content decisions or account restorations before that council convenes”. The Content Moderation Council still hasn’t been cobbled together.
