Days after removing an account that urged users to sign up for Mastodon. Now Twitter will no longer permit accounts built to promote competing social networks.
After Elon Musk was appointed CEO of Twitter and the platform’s subsequent restoration of far-right accounts, the suspension of journalists, not to forget the mass layoffs under his rule, many users started publishing links to their accounts on other websites.
“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,” Twitter Support tweeted Sunday.
The post continued, “Specifically, we will remove accounts created solely to promote other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr, and Post.”
https://twitter.com/twittersupport/status/1604531261791522817?s=48&t=RO81UqgGxUf5u51PGhat5w
It adds that it would also try to remove users who try to break the restrictions—among other things, spelling out “dot” and publishing screenshots of their usernames on restricted sites. The policy will also outlaw third-party link aggregators, such as linktr.ee and lnk.bio.
The policy is among the most extensive of those of any social media platform in terms of how it restricts what users may publish. Moreover, it represents the most significant change in Twitter under Musk. There aren’t many, if any, restrictions on users posting links to their profiles on other social networking networks.
/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/business/2022/12/18/twitter-bans-users-from-linking-external-social-media-accounts/c3e7d3761d6b4fe9a6755ff3e6545d5a_main_cpt638061009603562786.jpg)
Earlier Twitter suspended some journalists
Musk attended the World Cup final and tweeted from there as Twitter made a move public. Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former president Donald Trump, was seen sitting next to him.
The sudden rule change that targeted the dissemination of information about private jet flights over the past few days caused Twitter to temporarily suspend and then reinstate some journalists. The new rules add to what has already been a particularly chaotic period for the company and its new owner.
People who break the new rule for the first time may be forced to erase their tweets or have their accounts locked. Additionally, “any further crimes may result in permanent suspension,” the platform said. Users who link to or reference other social media accounts in their bio or account name violating the rules. They will have their accounts temporarily suspended and need to delete the mentions to have their accounts restored.
The new rule was implemented when many users switched from Twitter to the decentralized social network Mastodon. Mastodon added 1 million new members in the first two weeks following Musk’s purchase. The network now had around 1.6 million active members, which is still very small compared to Twitter’s 238 million users.
Despite a request for comment, Twitter, which no longer has a communications division, didn’t react immediately.
