X of Elon Musk Prevents Access to New York Times, Instagram, Facebook, and More

According to a report from the Washington Post on Tuesday, Social media company X, previously recognized as Twitter, has postponed the availability of links to content from Reuters, New York Times, and competitors such as Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram.

Clicking on X’s link on one of the affected websites resulted in a delay of about five seconds before the webpage loaded, the Washington Post reported, citing tests it conducted on Tuesday. Reuters also saw a similar delay in tests it ran.

By late Tuesday afternoon, X appeared to have cleared the delay. When contacted for comment, X confirmed the delay was lifted but did not elaborate.

Billionaire Elon Musk, who bought Twitter in October, has previously lashed out at news organizations and journalists who have reported critically on his companies, which include Tesla and SpaceX. Twitter has previously blocked users from posting links to competing social media platforms.

Reuters was unable to determine the exact time when X started lagging links to some websites.

A user on tech forum Hacker News posted about the delay earlier Tuesday, writing that X began delaying sending links to the New York Times on August 4. That day, Musk criticized the publication from South Africa, accusing it of supporting genocide. Reuters has no evidence that the incidents are related.

A spokesperson for the New York Times said it had not received an explanation from X about the delay in the link.

“While we don’t know the reasons for applying this time delay, we would be concerned about pressure being placed on any news organization for unclear reasons,” a spokesman said Tuesday.

A Reuters spokesman said: “We are aware of the Washington Post report about a delay in opening links to Reuters stories on X. We are investigating.”

Bluesky, an X competitor whose board includes Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, did not respond to a request for comment.

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.