Twitter’s ongoing decline and chaotic confusion continues as the app has now introduced features that block or downplay in the algorithm any posts containing links to newsletter platform Substack.
The change comes hot on the heels of Substack announcing Notes, a feature that allows Substack users to share short-form posts of similar length to tweets that can be interacted with similarly to posts on Twitter, earlier this week. Users currently can’t retweet or reply to tweets linking to Substack within the content of their posts, while the ability to embed tweets within Substack posts has also been removed.
It’s the latest petty change from Elon Musk, who in December 2022 banned links to FlightRadar.com, an incorrect URL for FlightRadar24, a platform that tracks planes using freely available information. (Twitter’s billionaire owner banned FlightRadar temporarily because of his dislike of the use of that flight tracking data to show how frequently he flew, something he called akin to sharing “real-time assassination coordinates.”)
Musk took over Twitter in October 2022 promising to reintroduce free speech to the platform—something he has so far uniquely failed at. “Elon’s move to block Substack content from Twitter demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the internet,” says Jess Maddox, an associate professor at the University of Alabama, who analyzes tech platforms and is herself a Substack user. “The development of the modern web literally hinges on linkable content and following hyperlinks to other places.”
Those links are vital elements of how the internet works, says Maddox—and will likely come to bite Twitter and its owner, Elon Musk. “This is one of the biggest achievements of internet culture and letting people easily access relevant information,” she says. “Instead of keeping people on Twitter, this move will have the opposite effect.”
The Substack ban appears to be a total one, based on comments made by Matt Taibbi, who was Musk’s handpicked journalist to break some of the controversial Twitter Files.“My understanding is that Substack links are being disabled on Twitter,” Taibbi wrote on Substack. “This will likely make the platform unusable for me, which is sad—but I’m looking forward to a new community here.” Taibbi told a commenter on his Substack that he had asked Musk for the rationale behind the block, and had received no reply.
“I think it’s unnecessary to limit engagements on tweets that link to Substack,” says app researcher and engineer Jane Manchun Wong, adding that she believes any speculation that Substack Notes could replace Twitter will ultimately prove incorrect. “There was a lot of chatter about Mastodon a few months ago, and people are still sticking around on Twitter. Twitter will be fine.”
Indeed, Manchun Wong reckons that the platform-wide ban on Substack links—which can be easily subverted by running links to the newsletter platform through a URL shortening tool—will have the opposite effect of what Musk presumably intends. “Ironically, limiting engagements like this would lead to even more exposure for Substack notes,” she says. Twitter didn’t respond to a request to comment, beyond the now standard poop emoji autoresponse sent from its press email inbox.
“We’re disappointed that Twitter has chosen to restrict writers’ ability to share their work,” a statement provided by the company reads. The company took the chance to highlight how its existence acts as an antithesis to centrally controlled platforms. “Writers deserve the freedom to share links to Substack or anywhere else,” Substack’s statement continues. “This abrupt change is a reminder of why writers deserve a model that puts them in charge, that rewards great work with money, and that protects the free press and free speech.”
It’s also an issue given Twitter’s self-described role as the de facto public square, says the University of Alabama’s Maddox. “Banning links of any kind limits the reach and range of information and ideas in our digital public squares, and at a time when information already seems precarious, this only makes it worse.”
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This story was originally published by ProPublica.
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