Twitter Bans Sharing Links To Some Social Media Platforms Like Instagram – SlashGear

The policy update was announced in a tweet thread by the Twitter Support account, which says that Twitter will suspend “accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content,” though only some competing sites are on the list of prohibited destinations. Those platforms are Mastodon, which explains why the Join Mastodon account was suspended, as well as Facebook, Instagram, Tribel, Truth Social, Post, and Nostr. It’s unclear why the policy only covers these platforms; Twitter specifically says that users are allowed to post their usernames and links to any other social media platforms.

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.

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) December 18, 2022

The changes are detailed in a Help Center document titled “Promotion of alternative social platforms policy,” which provides examples of the kinds of tweets that can get your account temporarily suspended. In addition to the social media platforms listed, Twitter will also squash attempts to get around prohibition by also banning links to link aggregators like Ink.bio and Linktr.ee. If you use any other means to get around the restriction, Twitter says you’ll be considered in violation of the policy and likewise banned. A simple tweet that lets followers know where to find you is all it takes to get in trouble — that can include a screenshot of a post on a banned platform that has your username visible.

This appears to be an effort to prevent users from easily leaving Twitter, as the company is still allowing links to banned platforms if they’re part of a paid promotion or ad. Based on the tweeted responses to the announcement, most users are unhappy with this restriction, particularly content creators who have pointed out that the limitation makes Twitter far less useful for them.