Twitter said it will no longer allow users to promote other social media accounts on its platform, according to a thread of tweets Sunday.
“We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms,” the company said. “However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter.”
Many users have been promoting their other social media accounts on Twitter following Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of the company in October. Twitter said the company will still allow cross-posting from different platforms, but sharing content like “follow me @username on Instagram,” or “username@mastodon.social” are now policy violations.
If users violate this policy, they may be required to delete their offending tweets. Accounts may also be temporarily locked or suspended, Twitter said.
Twitter has carried out a number of controversial suspensions this week as a result of recent changes to its policy on “doxxing,” which the company defines as the “sharing someone’s private information online without their permission.”
The updated policy prohibits users from sharing live location information, home addresses, contact information or physical location information. The changes resulted in a number of account suspensions, including many journalists who have been covering Musk and his companies. The flight-tracking accounts created by 20-year-old Jack Sweeney, many of which tracked Musk’s travel movements, were also suspended.
Musk has been vocal about his efforts to protect free speech on Twitter. In early November, Musk claimed he was such a staunch advocate for free speech that he would not ban the plane tracking account, which he called a “direct personal safety risk.” As of Sunday, Sweeney’s accounts remained suspended.
Many of the suspended journalists’ accounts were reinstated Saturday. Twitter suspended the Washington Post’s Taylor Lorenz late Saturday night, but her account was reinstated as of Sunday afternoon.