UPDATE:
Twitter appears to have backtracked on the policy. With the policy page now deleted and Musk saying there will be a vote for major policy changes.
Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022
has stopped the promotion of links to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Post, and Nostr on its platform.
The policy, which was rolled out on Sunday, also states that Twitter will “remove any free promotion of prohibited 3rd-party social media platforms, such as linking out (i.e. using URLs) to any of the below platforms on Twitter, or providing your handle without a URL.”
In a now-deleted tweet, Twitter had said “We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms. However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter.”
This specifically refers to 3rd-party social media link aggregators such as linktr.ee and lnk.bio. Examples of policy violations include “follow me @username on Instagram,” “[email protected],” and “check out my profile on Facebook – facebook.com/username.”
Twitter also stated that “any attempts to bypass restrictions on external links to the above prohibited social media platforms through technical or non-technical means (e.g. URL cloaking, plaintext obfuscation) is in violation of this policy.” This includes attempts to evade the policy by spelling out “dot” for social media platforms that use “.” in their names to avoid URL creation, or by sharing screenshots of handles on prohibited social media platforms.
If policy violations are an isolated incident or first offense, Twitter may take a range of actions including requiring the deletion of one or more tweets, temporarily locking accounts, or permanently suspending accounts for repeat abuse. If policy violations are included in a user’s bio or account name, Twitter will temporarily suspend the account and require changes to the profile to no longer be in violation. Subsequent violations may result in permanent suspension.
In my opinion, this policy change is potentially harmful to content creators who rely on promoting their work across multiple social media platforms. It may limit their ability to share their content and reach a wider audience, which could impact their ability to earn a living from their work. It’s important for social media companies to strike a balance between maintaining their own rules and policies and supporting the work of creators who rely on their platforms for exposure and income.
