Since Tesla boss Elon Musk (51) took over the Twitter news service, no stone has been left unturned. Musk is proving this once again with his latest change: In the future, Twitter will ban its users from posting links to competing online platforms.
The high-tech multi-billionaire’s company said on Sunday that “all free ads” for some other networks will be removed from posts and user accounts. The ban applies to links to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon and Truth Social, among others. Violators face temporary suspension of their Twitter account.
The affected network, Truth Social, is owned by former US President Donald Trump (76). Trump was banned from Twitter after his supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021, but his account was recently unblocked.
The most recent link ban on Twitter is one of several innovations, some of which are quite controversial, since Tesla boss Musk took over the online service for $44 billion (about €41 billion) this year.
The multi-billionaire likes to present himself as a pioneer in the fight for free speech. One of the reasons Musk bought Twitter was that the alleged censorship on the platform needed to end. Recently, however, it has caused outrage by temporarily blocking the user accounts of several US journalists. (AFP)