Elon Musk’s X purposely delayed access to content from links to rival social-media sites and news organizations, according to multiple reports Tuesday.
The Washington Post first reported Tuesday that links from posts on X — formerly Twitter — to websites such as the New York Times, Reuters, Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and Substack were being throttled with a small but noticeable five-second delay.
The Times and Reuters ran their own tests and confirmed the slowdown. All three reported that the delay had been eliminated by late Tuesday, hours after the reports were published. X reportedly confirmed the delays were removed but did not elaborate.
Musk, a self-proclaimed “free-speech absolutist,” has a history of lashing out at critics and rivals. The Times and Reuters have both written numerous critical articles about Musk and X. Musk also temporarily blocked Twitter links to rival social-media services late last year.
It was unclear when the throttling began, but it was first pointed out on the forum Hacker News early Tuesday.