Twitter briefly banned links and username references associated with Facebook, Instagram and other competitors

As many turned to Twitter on Sunday to watch the World Cup finals unfold, the company introduced The new policy bans “free advertising” by competing social media websites. Twitter has announced that it will remove Facebook and Instagram links. MastodonTribal, Post, Nostr and Donald Trump’s Truth Community From accounts whose “primary purpose” is to promote content on those sites.

Users were told they could not use their Twitter bio to link to their other social media profiles, or post tweets inviting their followers to follow them elsewhere. Additionally, the company restricted the use of third-party aggregators such as Linktree and Link.bio. Twitter warned that users who try to circumvent the new policy by using technical means such as URL cloaking or less advanced methods are violating the policy.

However, as the Twitter community came to terms with the rule change, its CEO had another change of heart. Within hours, there were tweets announcing the new policy and a support page outlining the specifics of its implementation. were deleted and replaced by a poll We ask: “Should we have a policy against creating or using existing accounts for the primary purpose of promoting other social media platforms?” At the time of writing, the “No” option had 86.9 percent of the vote.

Before the deletion, the support page outlined two exceptions to its new rule. “We recognize that some social media platforms offer alternative experiences to Twitter and allow users to post content from these platforms to Twitter,” the company said. “Generally, cross-posting of any kind to our platform, even from the prohibited sites listed above, is not a violation of this policy.” In addition, Twitter said it will continue to allow paid advertising for any site on its new banned list.

According to Twitter, accounts that violate the new policy will be temporarily locked out if it’s their first offense or an “individual incident.” The company may also delete defamatory tweets. “Any subsequent offenses will result in permanent suspension,” Twitter added. The company indicated that it will temporarily lock accounts that include offensive links in their bios. It added that multiple violations would “result in permanent suspension”.

Twitter began implementing the policy shortly after it was announced. At 2:17PM ET, Paul Graham, founder of startup accelerator Y Combinator and an outspoken supporter of the Musk acquisition, said he was quitting Twitter following the rule change and told his more than 1.5 million followers to find him on Mastodon. . Then Twitter Suspended Graham’s accountIt should be brought back after some time.

The policy follows another tumultuous week on Twitter. On December 15th, a handful of notable journalists found them, including NBC’s Ben Collins and CNN’s Tony O’Sullivan. Unable to access their Twitter accounts. Most accounts had one talking point Jack Sweeney Or his Elonjet accountIt was banned for violating the company’s recently announced policy Sharing common space. Twitter later Restored It abruptly suspended the accounts of those reporters on Saturday The Washington Post Journalist Taylor Lorenz. At the time of his suspension, Lorenz had only three posts to his name, including a tweet asking Musk to comment on an upcoming story. Another of his posts linked to his YouTube channel, but at the time Twitter had no policy against linking to competing sites, and its new rule nowhere mentioned Google’s video service.

Updated: 12/19 4:02 am ET: Article updated to reflect policy change.