Elon Musk’s X is throttling traffic to websites he dislikes
www.washingtonpost.com
The delayed websites include X’s online rivals Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and Substack as well as Reuters and the New York Times, all of which Musk previously has singled out for ridicule or attack.

Elon Musk’s X is throttling traffic to news and websites he dislikes | The site formerly known as Twitter has added a five-second delay when a user clicks on a shortened link to the New York Times,…::undefined

    • ciaocibai@lemmy.nzEnglish
      692·
      1 year ago

      But he said he’s a free speech absolutest! How could this be? /s

      If only he’d kept his mouth shut he’d probably be worth another 100billion. He reminds me of all the edge lords on 4chan, except with the unfortunate fact the media keeps reporting the dumb shit be says.

      • BuddyTheBeefalo@lemmy.mlEnglish
        26·
        1 year ago

        X aka Twitter has not been contacted for comment because it is known to only send a poop emoji in reply to media queries.

      • LakesLem@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        1 year ago

        Musk is a perfect, high profile example of how disingenuous most “free speech” proponents are.

        The actual, unbiased, actual-town-square concept of free speech like being able to speak up against your government is good and important, of course it is - but that’s not what people are referring to on social media, imageboards, etc. They’re referring to being able to slur minorities without being criticised, and wouldn’t bat an eye at shutting out “libs”.

    • essteeyou@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1032·
      1 year ago

      If you’re on a work visa and you don’t want to get deported then you do what daddy Elon tells you.

        • Durotar@lemmy.mlEnglish
          753·
          1 year ago

          It’s easy to talk about integrity when you’re not in that position.

          • avater@lemmy.worldEnglish
            924·
            1 year ago

            I was in this position, no other job in sight, no safety net, nothing.

            I worked as an lead designer for a big german company and was asked by the head of ux/ui to design an interface to actively trick users and I refused to do it and came up with an alternative. I was yelled at for not doing my job and asked again to do “my fucking work”. I went to my laptop, printet out my resignation papers, handed it over to the ceo and left the building…sure the next 1 and half months were pretty fucky but that’s another story.

            In that same week a I had a job interview with another company, went there for a get to know day and happily signed my contract a week later and I have been with this company for 4 years now, moved my way up to head of design and I’m just happy.

            • zephyreks@lemmy.caEnglish
              231·
              1 year ago

              Do you understand how fucking convoluted and bureaucratically insane the US H1B visa system is?

            • Durotar@lemmy.mlEnglish
              112·
              1 year ago

              (a) survival bias (b) don’t take credit for what you did, you’re not a highly moral hero, it’s just how chemistry in your brain works; it’s perfectly normal to be egoistic, take care of yourself and not quit from the day 1 just because you don’t like what your boss asked you to do.

    • Laukidh@infosec.pubEnglish
      16·
      1 year ago

      California passed its own net neutrality laws, but I think it only applies to ISPs.

    • Toribor@corndog.socialEnglish
      121·
      1 year ago

      Net Neutrality doesn’t affect web sites and services, just how ISPs deliver content. Twitter doesn’t have to remain neutral, they can block, throttle or redirect whatever they want. We need to stop pretending like they are a town square, they aren’t and we shouldn’t expect them to behave like they are.

        • Toribor@corndog.socialEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          I mean it’s shitty, but they are allowed to do it and probably should be allowed to do it. They aren’t a public space even if they like to pretend like they are. Opaquely slowing down access to sites they don’t like is pretty sketchy, but you can imagine if I started a Twitter competitor I might decide that I want to block outgoing links to sites spreading misinformation like InfoWars or something like that.

          The government probably shouldn’t step in and force me to allow those outgoing links in the name of ‘neutrality’. It would be my right to control what content is posted to the website that I run. It’s probably more ethical if I tell people what I’m doing and why, but no one is required to be there.

  • aragon@lemmy.worldEnglish
    411·
    1 year ago

    I wonder if anyone’s image has crashed from such highs to such pathetic lows. At the end of the day, it was all PR but he still had the admiration of many people just a few years back i.e before the Thai submarine fiasco. Now most people consider him a petulant child man with a massive fortune. The only good outcome of this fall has been a clear understanding that earning wealth is purely based on luck. It doesnt matter if it is millions or billions ,nothing comes due to our own genius. It is a combination of factors that result in wealth but it is mostly determined at your birth. May be this episode will humble others who might have taken a similar path due to their inexplicable wealth.

  • i_am_hungry@meganice.onlineEnglish
    30·
    1 year ago

    Why are so many people still using Twitter, what will it take for people to leave? Musk could probably charge $10 per tweet and bunch of people would be fine with that.

    • DogsShouldRuleUs@lemmy.worldEnglish
      14·
      1 year ago

      The same reason 2016 happened. Lots of mentally broken people in this country. Just watched a manager, old guy, at work, go off to another old co-worker about “did you hear about what they’re doing to skittles? With the fucking trans colors!?” knuckle dragging rabble rabble THEY WERE ALREADY A RAINBOW.

      • keefshape@lemmy.caEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        There are so many other valid arguements against skittles (my favorite candy). Idk whether to facepalm or guffaw that fucking skittles are now on the map to fight against.

    • Stoneykins [any]@mander.xyzEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      Honestly with how fast threads, brand new, was able to jump into this compared to the growth of mastodon, I’m convinced the only thing that can convince most people to stop using a corperate bloated social media site from hell is a new, slightly less bloated (so far) corperate social media site from hell.

      Twitter won’t die all the way until we have something else we want to die

      • pinkdrunkenelephants@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        People will never accept that part of the problem is themselves.

        Hell, even I still use Twitter sometimes. I admit I am part of the problem. Other people won’t at least try to be honest about it.

        Then they complain. That just shows that they’re not actually upset at the existence of sites like Twitter, they’re just upset they’re not the ones running them.

        The vast majority of human beings in this country are so toxic.

    • WoahWoah@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Considering the company is now, according to the CEO, close to break-even and slowly beginning to bring back advertisers and anticipating profitability in Q1 '24, I think they’re going to be around for a while longer.

      Beyond that element, I believe that Musk wants control of the company at least until/through the next presidential election, so X/Twitter probably isn’t going anywhere in the near future.

      As far as people not using it, I think those that were going to leave have left already, so I don’t anticipate a huge exodus.

  • alienanimals@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3510·
    1 year ago

    There’s Elon Musk spam on this community every day. Can we stop doing the billionaire’s PR for him?

    Downvote this garbage.

    • Hazdaz@lemmy.worldEnglish
      252·
      1 year ago

      If 1/2 the clowns that endlessly post anti-Twitter/anti-Musk stories would just STOP USING TWITTER, the entire site would collapse. Sick of seeing that asswipe’s name, but I’m not on his goddamn platform. I don’t drive his shitty cars. I won’t fawn over every goddamn thing he does.

      How much of an absolute douche do you have to be to make Zuck look good in comparison?!

      You claim you hate the guy, but the fact that you have a Twitter account proves that was a lie.

    • dub@lemmy.worldEnglish
      213·
      1 year ago

      While I agree, it’s good to know these ridiculous actions he takes. It’s not like it’s positive for him

      • alienanimals@lemmy.worldEnglish
        103·
        1 year ago

        Musk operates on the “There is no such thing as bad publicity model”. He doesn’t care if the news is bad or good so long as his name / businesses are in the 24-hour news cycle. It’s stupid, but he gets idiots to bring him more attention.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    241·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The delayed websites included X’s online rivals Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and Substack, as well as the Reuters wire service and the Times.

    On Tuesday afternoon, hours after this story was first published, X began reversing the throttling on some of the sites, dropping the delay times back to zero.

    Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesman for the Times, said in a statement that the news outlet has “made similar observations of our own” about the systemic delays and “not received any explanation from the platform about this move.”

    “While we don’t know the rationale behind the application of this time delay, we would be concerned by targeted pressure applied to any news organization for unclear reasons,” he said.

    “Writers cannot build sustainable businesses if their connection to their audience depends on unreliable platforms that have proven they are willing to make changes that are hostile to the people who use them.”

    Links to Facebook, Instagram and the new microblogging service Threads were all throttled; all three are owned by Meta, whose founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg has been locked in an ongoing online feud with Musk over not-yet-existent plans for a mixed-martial-arts fight.

    I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • markr@lemmy.worldEnglish
    191·
    1 year ago

    This is a person who’s mission, every day, is how to make the world shittier for everyone. He asks himself, over his breakfast of Cap’n Crunch and a juice box, ‘how can I fuck things up today?’

  • YeetPics@mander.xyzEnglish
    141·
    1 year ago

    No time to fight that ginger robot when you’re fighting the urge to ruin everything around you.