Elon Musk’s Twitter/X has been accused of suppressing links to the New York Times’s website on the platform, according to a new report.
Data from NewsWhip reported by Semafor suggests Twitter may be restricting access to the NY Times, an outlet repeatedly called out by Musk as “propaganda.”
Citing NewsWhip data, Semafor reports that there has been a substantial decline in engagement with posts containing links to the NYT.
The claimed decline on Twitter/X started in late July, according to the report.
The fall in shares and other forms of engagement on posts on Musk’s platform is sudden, data from NewsWhip on 300,000 influential X users shows.
The drop does not mirror trends from links to other corporate media outlets such as CNN, The Washington Post, and the BBC.
“There was a drop off in engagement for NYT compared to the other sites in late July/early August,” NewsWhip’s Benedict Nicholson told Semafor.
Moreover, Semafor reports that the data shows that the NYT did not experience the same engagement plummet on Facebook.
Musk has previously criticized the NY Times for both its coverage and the content it posts on his platform.
I love their new logo pic.twitter.com/Qv7zbS3Yt7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 31, 2023
“The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting,” he posted in April.
“Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea.
“It’s unreadable,” he added.
“They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles.
“Same applies to all publications.”
The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
In April, Musk’s X also suppressed Substack links following the newsletter platform’s announcement of launching a competitor to X called Notes, according to ArsTechnica.
It is tragic how far The New York Times has fallen – basically just boring af far left brainwashing at this point. The boring part is truly unforgivable!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2022
Musk has consistently advocated for free speech and has made some significant efforts toward reducing speech restrictions on the platform.
However, the company has also implemented measures that have advanced censorship under his ownership.
