(Update December 19, 2022 8:40 AM IST): Twitter deleted the tweets announcing the policy that prohibited people from posting handles and links to other social networks. The company has also been silently removed the policy page that lists those rules. Meanwhile, the Twitter Safety account was launched a survey Users are asking if the company should create a policy for accounts only used to promote other social networks.
Should we have a policy preventing the creation or use of existing accounts for the primary purpose of promoting other social media platforms?
– Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) December 19, 2022
After Twitter made the policy change, it received a lot of criticism. In a response to a user, Musk indicated that the policy will be adjusted Ban accounts, their sole purpose is the promotion of other social networks. However, Twitter has not made any official announcements in this regard.
The original story follows
As people around the world watched an exciting FIFA World Cup final, Twitter decided to drop a bombshell and block links promoting other social networks. The list currently includes Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr, and Post. Also, link-in-bio tools like Linktree and Lnk.Bio are also banned – these services are widely used by creators as well as businesses. Essentially, you can’t post links to your other social profiles or even type your name in a tweet.
Elon Musk-owned company “no longer allows free advertising on certain social media platforms” on Twitter. The company said it was deleting any accounts “created solely for the purpose of promoting other social networks.” There are also plans to remove links to content from the social platforms mentioned above.
In particular, we will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contain links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr, and Post.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) December 18, 2022
“We know that many of our users may be active on other social media platforms; However, going forward, Twitter will no longer allow free advertising for certain social media platforms on Twitter,” the social platform said on its policy page.
Twitter requires you to delete tweets if you link your handles, and multiple violations of this policy will result in a temporary account suspension. The company said if you have links to any of these platforms in your bio, it will temporarily suspend your account and ask you to edit your bio.
What’s interesting here is that the Musk-run company lets you post your name if you pay to have the tweet promoted.
Twitter suspended the account of Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz on Saturday night. Lorenz had recently deleted all of her tweets and only had three posts on her account: two promoting her other social media accounts and one asking Musk for comment on a story she’s working on with Drew Harwell , another post author, works. Harwell, along with reporters including The New York Times’ Ryan Mac and CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, were temporarily suspended after they posted about Mastodon’s Twitter being suspended for being linked to the Elon Jet Mastodon account. He and other journalists were reinstated after Musk released a poll allowing users to vote on the fate of the journalists.
When Lorenz posted her other social media handles and was suspended, that policy didn’t exist. At the time of publication, her account appears to have been restored.