Something serious appears to be going on between Twitter and Substack as the latter has begun to mark links going to the newsletter platform as unsafe. The social media company owned by Elon Musk has yet to reveal its reason for doing so, although it is speculated that Substack's latest feature is the reason why Twitter is showing apparent hostility.
Twitter Restricts Substack Users' Engagements, Prevents Them from Embedding Tweets
As reported by The Verge, any links posted on Twitter with Substack's website in the URL will lead to a notice window upon clicking. The notice will say that "the link you are trying to access has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially spammy or unsafe." The Verge has vouched for the Substack links' safety, although it did not provide confirmed answers as to why Twitter marked the links as unsafe.
Aside from the links, Substack users noticed on Thursday that they could no longer embed tweets when posting their updates on Substack. At first, it appeared to have been a technical glitch, as per Mashable, but more reports have surfaced pointing to Twitter restricting Substack users' activities on purpose.
On the same day, some users noticed that Twitter have already blocked engagements on tweets with links to Substack. These tweets couldn't receive likes and they couldn't be retweeted either. However, they could still be quote tweeted. The following day, the said restriction has already spread to Substack's official Twitter account.
Based on Twitter's policy for marking links as unsafe and restricting engagements, Substack appears to have not violated any rules. The Verge noted that Twitter's policy hasn't changed in three years, and Substack's website has always been functioning to be marked as unsafe. Therefore, Twitter's latest actions towards Substack merit no justification.
Musk, who is often vocal about issues that concern him or his company, has not yet addressed the problem with Substack.
Related Article: Substack is Adding 'Notes' to the Platform Which Appears like Tweets
Substack Notes And Its Twitter-Like Appearance Could Be the Reason for Twitter Hostility
The public can only rely on rumors with no official word yet from Twitter regarding the Substack issue. Although, some people couldn't help but think that Substack's recent announcement of the Substack Notes is the cause of the fiasco.
This new feature bears many similarities with Twitter, from the news feed akin to the social media platform to the "tweet-like" posts. Although, Substack Notes does not appear to directly compete with Twitter as Notes is only a portion of the Substack environment.
A spokesperson from Substack issued a statement regarding the recent events. Although, the spokesperson refused to talk about Twitter's apparent hostile behavior towards the platform.
"We're investigating reports that Twitter embeds and authentication no longer work on Substack," the spokesperson said. "We are actively trying to resolve this and will share updates as additional information becomes available."
On the other hand, Mashable was able to get the opinion of Substack founders, Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie and Jairaj Sethi. According to them, Twitter's recent move to "restrict writers' ability to share their work" was disappointing.
"Writers deserve the freedom to share links to Substack or anywhere else. This abrupt change is a reminder of why writers deserve a model that puts them in charge, that rewards great work with money, and that protects the free press and free speech," the Substack founders said in a joint statement.
