The constant changes in Twitter's policies have resulted in the social media network's users turning to its competitors to post their thoughts and actions.
Twitter, which is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, wants to put a stop to that.
After initially not allowing people to either post links to other social media companies such as Mastodon or Post on Dec. 18, the company changed its mind again.
By the evening of Dec. 18, Twitter deleted a series of posts explaining its ban and instead replaced it with a new poll.
The poll asks, "Should we have a policy preventing the creation of or use of existing accounts for the main purpose of advertising other social media platforms?"
Cross promoting other social media companies by posting links has long been a standard use for people who want to share their work in other mediums, including videos or podcasts.
Twitter had initially sought to ban people who included links to other social media accounts.
"We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms. However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter," the company tweeted on Dec. 18.
The company also said it would ban users whose only intent was to post links to its competitors, including Facebook and Instagram which are owned by Meta Platforms (META), Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post.
"Specifically, we will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post."
Twitter said it was acceptable to post links to its competitors for other purposes.
"We still allow cross-posting content from any social media platform," the company tweeted. "Posting links or usernames to social media platforms not listed above are also not in violation of this policy."
The changes at Twitter were even criticized by Jack Dorsey, the founder and former CEO of Twitter, who tweeted “Doesn’t make sense.”
The French digital minister, Éric Freyssinet, lambasted Twitter's potential policy change and linked to Twitter's own rules.
"Any attempt to remove my tweets that link to my other social media accounts, not violating any law, would actually make #twitter an editorial media, and no longer a social media platform, with civil and criminal liability for *any* illegal content therein," he tweeted.
He also referenced a legal argument for U.S. purposes, "For a legal reference supporting this, in the US context, you may read how and under what conditions social platforms are protected under Section 230 of the Communications decency act.
Users Mock Twitter's Potential Policy Change
Twitter users openly mocked the change in policy by Twitter on Dec. 18.
One user, Chip Goines, a Boston-based writer and volunteer, tweeted, "Please don't leave or we'll suspend you for telling everyone you're leaving"... Is that really the new policy?"
Ethan Sacks, a comic writer for Marvel and Awa Studios, criticized the lack of free speech on Twitter which has been seen as a de facto town square globally.
"Seems like there's a lot less actual free speech on this site than there was before @elonmusk took over," he tweeted.
An increase in competition in social media companies is necessary, Howard Forman, physician and professor, tweeted.
"Nice to note that ALL your competitors seem to allow, if not encourage, cross promotion," he tweeted. "Fear of free market competition is a sign of weakness and, perhaps, despair."
The changes follow the suspension of the accounts of several prominent journalists and the use of Spaces, the feature on Twitter where users can gather to conduct audio conversations with each other.
Spaces was restarted after Musk changed his mind abruptly about halting its use.
He also reinstated many of the journalists' Twitter accounts also on Dec. 16 after warnings were given from both the EU Commission and the United Nations about protecting free speech.
Spaces had stopped working late on Dec. 14 for some users and was deactivated on Dec. 15 for all users.
Musk did not provide any comments on why Spaces was deactivated in the first place or why he changed his mind less than 24 hours later.
The Spaces function stopped working after Katie Notopoulos, a BuzzFeed reporter, hosted a Spaces event on Dec. 15 after numerous prominent journalists had their Twitter accounts suspended without being given a reason. Musk spoke briefly on the Spaces event, who reiterated his claim that he had been doxxed, but declined to answer questions from reporters such as Drew Harwell of the Washington Post, who was one of the reporters with an account that was suspended.
“You’re suggesting that we were sharing your address, which is not true,” Harwell said to Musk.
“It is true,” Musk replied.
Musk did not give a reason for the suspension and abruptly left the Spaces conversation.
Spaces stopped working shortly thereafter and no announcement was given by either Musk or Twitter.
Musk lifted the suspension of the accounts of some of the journalists late on Dec. 17 after hosting two polls on Twitter. He banned Taylor Lorenz of the Washington Post on Dec. 17 because she asked him for comment for an article that she is working on with Drew Harwell who had also been suspended previously. He later rescinded the ban.
The journalists who were banned include Ryan Mac of the New York Times; Aaron Rupar, an independent journalist; Donie O'Sullivan of CNN; Harwell of the Washington Post; Keith Olbermann, a political journalist; Matt Binder of Mashable; Micah Lee of the Intercept; Steve Herman of VOA; Tony Webster, an independent journalist and Linette Lopez, a columnist at Business Insider.
Neither Twitter or Musk had commented when the suspensions began. This ban comes from the CEO of Tesla who has described himself as a free speech absolutist.
Some of the journalists said they were not given a reason for the suspension. There did not seem to be a common theme with the suspensions, but the users' Twitter pages all had a message that said it suspended accounts that “violate the Twitter rules.”
After the accounts were suspended, Musk claimed in a series of tweets that the journalists had not followed his new “doxxing” policy when they allegedly shared his “exact real-time” location, stating they were “assassination coordinates.”
The reporters who were able to tweet again on Dec. 16 include Mac, Rupar, Harwell, O'Sullivan, Binder, Lee, Herman and Olbermann.
Lopez's account remained suspended on Dec. 18.
None of the banned journalists shared Musk’s precise real-time location and instead many referred to an account that was also banned, called ElonJet, that gave the location of Musk's private jet that comes from easily accessible public information.
Musk had previously said that he would allow the account to stay active on Twitter, but claimed it posed a security threat.
“My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk,” he said in a tweet last month.
The journalists who had their accounts suspended were able to attend the Spaces event hosted by Notopoulos and discuss their suspension.
Věra Jourová, the vice president for values and transparency in the EU Commission, said Twitter's suspension of journalists accounts was concerning.
"News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying," she tweeted on Dec. 16. "EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. This is reinforced under our #MediaFreedomAct."
The United Nations said the suspension was problematic.
Melissa Fleming, the UN's under secretary general for global communications, said she was "deeply disturbed" that journalists were "arbitrarily" suspended from the social media company.
"Media freedom is not a toy," she said. "A free press is the cornerstone of democratic societies and a key tool in the fight against harmful disinformation."
Musk acquired Twitter in October for $44 billion and since the deal to take the social media company private closed, shares of Tesla (TSLA) - Get Free Report have fallen by 51.31% during the past year and 14.41% during the past five days.
