X, the company formerly known as Twitter, is delaying access to social media competitors and news sites that have earned the ire of its owner, Elon Musk.
Users who clicked on links to certain websites on X found that their access was delayed by about five seconds, according to tests run by the Washington Examiner. These tests confirmed that the delays affected links to the New York Times and Reuters.
UP FOR DEBATE: TRUMP, DESANTIS, AND OTHER 2024 GOP HOPEFULS’ STANCE ON SECOND AMENDMENT
X’s competitors, such as Mastodon, Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram, were also affected by the delay. Other news outlets, including the Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, and Associated Press, were unaffected. X has not stated a reason for slowing traffic through links.
The delays are directly affecting the t.co domain, which is the link shortening service used by X. This service takes the original link, recodes it as a t.co domain, and then redirects the traffic to its initial target. This method allows X to better track what URLs are clicked on on its platform.
The delays were initially noted by a poster on Hacker News early Tuesday.
Musk has shown a propensity to limit his platform’s competitors. He banned tweets linking to Substack in April after the blogging platform announced it was adding its own Twitter clone, and did the same for Instagram and Facebook. Mastodon and Bluesky have also been presented as alternatives to X for those unhappy with Musk’s management. Musk has promoted himself as a free speech absolutist but regularly restricts or reins in content and creators he dislikes.
Reuters and the New York Times have been targets of Musk’s anger. Reuters published an investigation in July alleging that Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, had attempted to suppress thousands of driving range complaints. The New York Times has also been a target of Musk, who has called it “propaganda” and the “Twitter equivalent of Diarrhea.” He removed the outlet’s “Verified” badge in April after the New York Times declined to pay Twitter for its premium service.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Musk has previously emphasized that he is set on improving Twitter’s speed. “Twitter core services latency reduced by ~400ms. Should feel noticeably faster,” Musk posted in November 2022.
Twitter core services latency reduced by ~400ms. Should feel noticeably faster.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2022
Musk and X did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.
