Twitter is reportedly blocking links to its new rival, Meta’s Threads.
Reports started surfacing on Monday that Twitter was selectively blocking links to Mark Zuckerberg’s latest social networking app. Users noted that while some links worked, others noticeably did not.
The move means it will be more difficult for people to track down conversations on Threads and locate users’ profiles.
Why we care. Since Threads launched on July 5, the app has become the fastest-growing social media platform in history and trending regularly on Twitter. Experts believe the decision to block selected links to Threads in Twitter search results is an attempt to keep users engaged on the platform rather than move away to its rival.
What have people said? American technologist and blogger, Andy Baio, was one of the many people on Twitter to notice that selected links to Threads weren’t working. He confirmed the problem after conducting a search query using the operator “url:threads.net”. After this search failed to serve any results, he shared his findings on Threads:
- “Twitter is selectively blocking searches for tweets that link to Threads, even though they allow posting Threads URLs (for now).”
However, Baio shared a technique that users can implement to prevent the block:
- “Clever workaround via @kepner, you can quote the domain name and remove the period to bypass the block.”
- “Adding “filter:follows” and clicking Latest will show you everyone you follow who has posted links to Threads.”
In an exchange with The Messenger, Baio described the move by Twitter as “anti-competitive”. He said:
- “Hiding tweets about Threads seems fully in line with Twitter’s new anti-competitive stance, creating a fully walled garden that blocks open expression while hypocritically claiming to promote free speech.”
Why now?
What has Twitter said? Twitter is evidently taking people’s concerns extremely seriously. So much so, the platform responded to our request for comment with a poop emoji, perhaps indicating that it is now in fight or flight mode in response to Thread’s soaring popularity.