The Facts
A Washington Post report said on Tuesday that Elon Musk’s social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, delayed access to links to news outlets such as Reuters and The New York Times as well as competitors Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.
The Post conducted a test showing that Twitter links to the affected sites would send users to a blank screen that lasted for up to five seconds before the linked webpage would open. Hacker News was the first to report the alleged delays.
The Spin
Narrative A
Elon Musk can be called many things, but “free speech absolutist” is definitely not one of them. It’s quite suspect how all the delays happen to affect competitor sites and news outlets that Elon Musk has publicly disparaged. This is another disturbing turn of events for the "Platform Formally Known as Twitter."
Narrative B
We only see legacy media and big tech outlets up in arms about censorship now that there are alleged reports of X delaying access to links for five seconds. It’s not even confirmed that there are any intentional delays to websites. Still, if that’s the case, it only shows the need for regulation that prohibits online favoritism coming from all sides. The internet is a public space, and we must give everyone equal access.
