Twitter is once again blocking a competitor’s website, this time blocking links to Substack in response to Substack Notes.
Matt Taibbi, the journalist Elon Musk trusted to publish the “Twitter Files” has written a post (on Substack, of course) after discovering he could no longer post links to his Substack content on Twitter:
Earlier this afternoon, I learned Substack links were being blocked on Twitter. Since being able to share my articles is a primary reason I use Twitter, I was alarmed and asked what was going on.
After reaching out to Twitter, Taibbi was told he should post his articles on Musk’s platform rather than Substack:
It turns out Twitter is upset about the new Substack Notes feature, which they see as a hostile rival. When I asked how I was supposed to market my work, I was given the option of posting my articles on Twitter instead of Substack.
Taibbi made clear he has no intention of abandoning Substack and will leave Twitter instead:
The entire episode is reminiscent of Twitter blocking journalists and rival Mastodon late last year, a decision that caused widespread condemnation across the spectrum.