Twitter bans ‘free promotion’ of other social media platforms

Twitter announced that it will prohibit any “free promotion” of other social media platforms on its site, marking the latest major policy change under billionaire owner Elon Musk.

“We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms,” Twitter Support wrote in a thread on Sunday. “However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter.”

Twitter Support also said that it will remove accounts that are created for the sole purpose of promoting other social media platforms.

Twitter specifically said users cannot promote Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr, and Pos accounts. Twitter will also prohibit users from sharing third-party social media link aggregators such as linktr.ee and lnk.bio. 

“We still allow cross-posting content from any social media platform,” Twitter Support added in its thread. “Posting links or usernames to social media platforms not listed above are also not in violation of this policy.”

The decision comes as many Twitter users — angry over Musk’s suspension of tech journalists and other controversial changes — are looking for a new platform.

In a tweet Sunday afternoon, Musk said of the new policy that “Casually sharing occasional links is fine, but no more relentless advertising of competitors for free, which is absurd in the extreme.”

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey questioned the new policy on Sunday, writing “Doesn’t make sense” in a tweet.

Twitter also banned users from promoting Nostr, a social media platform that Dorsey has invested in, according to The Daily Beast.

The latest policy change follows Musk’s decision to ban Twitter alternative Mastodon’s official account on the platform.

Musk said on Saturday he had lifted the temporary bans on several journalists’ accounts after conducting a poll in which 59 percent of Twitter users called for those accounts to be restored immediately.

Updated: 7:30 p.m.