Musk’s X Postpones Access To Content From Reuters, NY Times, and Social Media Competitors

Social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, delayed access to linked content on the websites of Reuters and the New York Times, as well as competitors such as Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram, according to a Washington Post report on Tuesday.

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.

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 do not know the reasons for applying this time delay, we would be concerned about pressure being placed on any news organization for unclear reasons,” the spokesperson said on 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.