Twitter went down for thousands of users

Many suggested it would happen, and now it has: Twitter went down. Thousands of Twitter users reported having issues accessing the website on the evening of December 28th according to comments on DownDetector. Based on people’s reports, the outage started just before 7PM Eastern time, reaching its peak at around 7:44PM before returning fully after around two hours. It appears people had more problems accessing the website itself — only a fraction had difficulties loading the social network through its apps. 

According to The Guardian, users who couldn’t access the website were met with a message that read “something went wrong, but don’t fret — it’s not your fault.” Elon Musk responded that he wasn’t having any trouble loading the social network, but did note that “significant backend server” changes were made around the same time that should make the service “feel faster.”

On Christmas Eve, Musk revealed that he had disconnected one of Twitter’s more sensitive server racks, but that the social network remained operational. He purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October, months after initiating the acquisition and trying to back out of the deal. The company had laid off around half of the workforce and thousands of contractors since then, and one former employee told The Washington Post in November that they knew of six critical systems that “no longer have any engineers.”

Isik Mater, the director of research at internet monitoring service NetBlocks, told The New York Times that “the problems with Twitter exhibit in multiple countries and are widespread.” Mater also said that the “platform API is affected, which serves the mobile app as well as many aspects of the desktop site.”

Twitter Blue perks now include higher ranking replies and 60-minute video uploads

Twitter Blue has enabled new perks for subscribers including “prioritized rankings in conversations” and video uploads up to 60 minutes in length, according to an updated feature list spotted by TechCrunch. Both features were promised by Elon Musk last month when he said Blue subscribers who pay $8 per month would get “priority in replies, mentions & search” and the ability to post long videos. 

Reply priority is now in effect, with the support page stating that “this feature prioritizes your replies on Tweets that you interact with.” That seems to be the case on severaltweets I looked at, with Twitter Blue subscribers (many with few followers) appearing as the top replies. It’s not clear if users paying $8 per month will always appear at the top in replies, or whether or factors are also used.

Twitter support said earlier that priority rankings will “help lower the visibility of scams, spam and bots.” However, some users have expressed concern that the new system will lower the experience for non-paying users, or that paid priority might help spammers, trolls and others amplify their messages. 

The new video rules will boost length from 10 minutes and 512MB to 60 minutes and 2GB at up to 1080p resolution, though only on the web — the 10-minute rule still applies to Android and iOS users. Twitter also notes that it may “modify or adapt your original video for distribution, syndication, publication or broadcast by us and our partners” or change the bitrate/resolution depending on a viewer’s internet speeds. 

Musk said that Twitter will eventually pay creators for uploaded videos, noting that it might even exceed the 55 percent cut that YouTube offers. However, it hasn’t said whether that will be done with ads or other means. It’s also not clear how it may address piracy issues, given that much of its moderation team has been let go or quit. 

How to permanently delete all your Facebook and Meta-owned accounts

It’s never exactly easy to pull the plug on a social media account you’ve had for years. For many of us, our accounts are filled with years of photos, memories and memes that aren’t easy to part with ,even if we are ready to stop the daily scrolling ha…

Twitter ‘Affiliate’ badges arrive to combat brand impersonation

In mid-November, Elon Musk said Twitter was working on a feature that would allow brands and organizations to identify accounts associated with them. A month later, the company has begun rolling that feature out. As first spotted by social media consultant (and former Next Web journalist) Matt Navarra, Twitter has added a new “Affiliate” badge that can appear alongside an account’s verified checkmark. The purpose of the icon is to point you to the account’s parent account if it’s not the primary account of a brand or organization. For instance, if you visit the Twitter Support account, you can click on the badge to go straight to the main Twitter account. Brands now also have square profile pictures to further differentiate their presence on the platform.

Musk first announced the feature in the same week that Twitter made its first failed attempt at rolling out paid account verification. After the company began enrolling users into its revamped Twitter Blue subscription, verified trolls used the service to impersonate brands and celebrities. The situation was a nightmare for businesses like Eli Lilly. The pharmaceutical firm saw billions of dollars erased from its market cap after a fake “verified” account misled people into believing the company was making insulin free.  

European Commission tells Meta that Facebook Marketplace is unfair to rivals

Europe has hit Facebook owner Meta with a complaint that its Marketplace classified service is unfair to competitors. By tying its main social media site to Marketplace, it has a “substantial distribution advantage” over rivals, the EU Commission wrote in a press release. 

“With its Facebook social network, Meta reaches globally billions of monthly users and millions active advertisers,” EU Antitrust Commissioner said in a statement. “Our preliminary concern is that Meta ties its dominant social network Facebook to its online classified ad services called Facebook Marketplace. This means that users of Facebook automatically have access to Facebook Marketplace, whether they want it or not.”

In addition, the Commission found that Meta imposes imposes unfair trading conditions on competitors that advertise on Facebook or Instagram. That essentially allows it to use “ads-related data derived from competitors for the benefit of Facebook Marketplace,” it said. The practices, if confirmed, would infringe on EU rules that prohibit the abuse of a dominant market position. The EU has the power to impose a fine of up to 10 percent of Meta’s annual revenue and prohibit the behavior. 

In a statement, Meta’s head of EMEA competition said the “claims made by the European Commission are without foundation” and that the company “will continue to work with regulatory authorities to demonstrate that our product innovation is pro-consumer and pro-competitive.” 

Last year, the EU Commission launched an antitrust probe into Facebook’s classified advertising practices to determine if it broke competition rules by using advertiser data to its own benefit. The so-called Statement of Objects released today is a formal step in EU antitrust investigations, informing parties of complaints raised against them. Meta can now examine the documents, reply in writing and request an oral hearing to present their comments, according to the Commission. 

The Morning After: Twitter briefly bans links to Facebook, Instagram and other rivals

Could the state of Twitter get any worse? Of course it can. While a lot of us were glued to the World Cup final, the social network made major policy changes, deciding to halt any kind of “free promotion” of competing social media sites. Or, at least, it did for a moment.

Twitter announced yesterday it would remove links to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Post and, er, Truth Social, from accounts whose “main purpose” is to promote content on those platforms. This includes links in Twitter bios and even, it seems, links to YouTube channels and profiles. The company would even restrict the use of third-party aggregators, like Linktree and Link.bio. Funnily enough, if you were willing to pay, you’d be fine. Twitter said it would continue to allow paid promotion for any of the platforms on its new prohibited list.

Twitter began enforcing the policy almost immediately. Yesterday, at 2:17 PM ET, Paul Graham, the founder of startup accelerator Y Combinator – and Silicon Valley royalty – said he was done with Twitter, following the rule change, and told his more than 1.5 million followers to find him on Mastodon. A few hours later, Twitter suspended Graham’s account.

But then late last night, the official tweets announcing the link ban were deleted, as was the policy itself from Twitter’s website. So, well, we’re not entirely sure now. Musk also tweeted a poll asking if he should stick around as Twitter boss. At the moment, the answer is no.

– Mat Smith

The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.

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Elon Musk will find someone else to run Twitter, according to his poll

Yesterday Elon Musk launched another one of his famous Twitter policy polls, this time putting his own leadership on the line. “Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll,” he tweeted. The poll just ended and 57.5 percent of users voted “Yes,” compared to 42.5 percent who voted no (with 17,502,391 votes) — a decisive 15-point margin.

It remains to be seen if (and how, and when) Musk will abide by his poll, as he has yet to issue any comment about the results. Shortly after publishing the vote (and when it was already tilting toward “Yes”), he tweeted “as the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it.” In a reply to another user on the same thread, he added that “no one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.” During the poll, Musk was seen at the World Cup in Qatar with former White House adviser Jared Kushner, live-tweeting the final between France and Argentina.

The vote follows a flurry of activity on Twitter. Yesterday, the social media site announced a rule change prohibiting users from linking to competing platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter rival Mastodon. That resulted in the ban of multiple users including Y Combinator founder Paul Graham, an early supporter of Musk’s Twitter acquisition.  

A massive backlash ensued, prompting an apology from Musk, who also tweeted that “going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes.” Then, in yet another poll yesterday, @TwitterSafety asked users whether it should “have a policy preventing the creation of or use of existing accounts for the main purpose of advertising other social media platforms.” The “No” votes currently command a 87 percent share from 224,365 users with 14 hours remaining.

YouTube removes Pornhub channel over ‘multiple violations’

YouTube has removed PornHub’s official channel over what it called “multiple violations” of its community guidelines, Variety has reported. Pornhub’s YouTube channel first launched in 2014 and had 900,000 subscribers, but it no longer appears in YouTube search and its URL now shows a 404 error. 

YouTube said that Pornhub violated its policy against linking to sites that host content not allowed on YouTube. “Upon review, we terminated the channel Pornhub Official following multiple violations of our community guidelines,” a spokesperson said. “We enforce our policies equally for everyone, and channels that repeatedly violate or are dedicated to violative content are terminated.”

Pornhub’s parent MindGeek said that it “vehemently denied” YouTubes claims that it linked out to porn sites. “Pornhub maintains the absolute best trust and safety measures on the internet and takes special care to ensure it does not violate any of YouTube’s Community Guidelines,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this is just the latest example of discrimination against those in the adult industry.”

On Friday, the anti-pornography group National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) wrote on its blog that it had flagged content that it believed violated YouTube policies. “After review, YouTube alerted NCOSE that they had terminated the channel for violations of their Community Guidelines.” MindGeek, meanwhile, said that performers and sex workers are marginalized groups and called YouTube’s “haphazard and arbitrary enforcement… dangerous and harmful.” 

Mastercard and Visa cut off payments to Pornhub in 2020, with Mastercard saying at the time that it found illegal content on the site. A federal judge refused to remove Visa from a lawsuit alleging that it aided MindGeek in monetizing child pornography. In September, Instagram banned Pornhub permanently, also citing violations of community guidelines. 

Twitter briefly banned links and username mentions relating to Facebook, Instagram and other rivals

While many people were turning to Twitter on Sunday to watch the World Cup finals unfold, the company introduced a new policy banning “free promotion” of competing social media websites. Twitter said it would remove links to Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Tribel, Post, Nostr and Donald Trump’s Truth Social from accounts whose “main purpose” is to promote content on those platforms. 

Users were told they could no longer use their Twitter bio to link to their other social media profiles, nor post tweets that invite their followers to follow them elsewhere. Additionally, the company restricted the use of third-party aggregators like Linktree and Link.bio. Twitter warned that users who attempt to bypass the new policy using technical means like URL cloaking or less advanced methods will be found in violation of the policy.

However, as the Twitter community came to terms with the rule change, its CEO had another change of heart. Within hours, tweets announcing the new policy, plus the support page outlining the specifics of its enforcement, were deleted and replaced with a poll asking: “should we have a policy preventing the creation of or use of existing accounts for the main purpose of advertising other social media platforms?” At the time of writing, the “No” option had a commanding 86.9 percent share of the vote.

Before the deletion, the support page outlined two exceptions to its new rule. “We recognize that certain social media platforms provide alternative experiences to Twitter, and allow users to post content to Twitter from these platforms,” the company said. “In general, any type of cross-posting to our platform is not in violation of this policy, even from the prohibited sites listed above.” Additionally, Twitter said it would continue to allow paid promotion for any of the platforms on its new prohibited list.

According to Twitter, accounts that violated the new policy would be temporarily locked if it was their first offense or “an isolated incident.” The company may have also deleted the offending tweets. “Any subsequent offenses will result in permanent suspension,” Twitter added. The company indicated it would temporarily lock accounts that add the offending links in their bios. Multiple violations “may result in permanent suspension,” it added. 

Twitter quickly began enforcing the policy shortly after it was announced. At 2:17PM ET, Paul Graham, the founder of startup accelerator Y Combinator and someone who came out in support of Musk’s takeover, said he was done with Twitter following the rule change and told his more than 1.5 million followers to find him on Mastodon. Twitter then suspended Graham’s account, only to bring it back not long after.       

The policy comes following another messy week at Twitter. On December 15th, a handful of notable journalists, including NBC’s Ben Collins and CNN’s Donnie O’Sullivan, found they could not access their Twitter accounts. Most of the accounts had either talked about Jack Sweeney or his ElonJet account, which was banned for breaking the company’s recently announced policy against public location sharing. While Twitter later reinstated the accounts of those reporters, on Saturday it abruptly suspended the account of Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz. At the time of her suspension, Lorenz only had three posts to her name, one of which was a tweet to Musk asking him to comment on an upcoming story. Another one of her posts linked to her YouTube channel, but at that point Twitter’s policy against linking to competing platforms didn’t exist and nowhere in its new rule does it mention Google’s video service. 

Update: 12/19 at 4:02am ET: Article updated to include the reversal of the policy change.

Twitter reinstates accounts of some suspended journalists and Mastodon

Twitter has announced through its Safety account that it has “identified several policies where permanent suspension was a disproportionate action for breaking Twitter rules.” The website has already started reinstating accounts that were suspended for violating those rules, the tweet continued, and it will lift more suspensions every week over the next month. Twitter didn’t specify the policies it’s talking about and which accounts will be reinstated. But upon checking, the accounts of Mastodon and the journalists recently banned due to the website’s new doxxing rules are up and running again. 

To understand what happened, we have to go back a few days. The website banned several accounts over the past week, starting with @ElonJet, the account that tracked flights of Elon Musk’s private jet using publicly available data. Other accounts that also tracked the planes of government agencies and high-profile individuals were banned, as well. 

On his account, Musk announced that any account “doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended.” In a follow-up tweet, he said that a car carrying his child was “followed by crazy stalker” and that he was taking legal action against Jack Sweeney, the college student who ran @ElonJet, and “organizations who supported harm to [his] family.” As of this writing, the @ElonJet account is still suspended. 

Shortly after that, Twitter also suspended the account of its rival social network Mastodon when it tweeted a link to the account tracking Musk’s jet on its own service. It’s worth noting that Twitter seems to have started flagging posts containing the word “Mastodon” as “sensitive content” days before this happened. Users also found themselves unable to post links to Mastodon servers.

In addition to Mastodon, Twitter suspended the accounts of several journalists who report on Elon Musk and the social network itself. Most of them talked about Sweeney or linked to @ElonJet in some way, and based on Musk’s responses to questions about the event, the journalists were suspended due to Twitter’s new doxxing rules. One of the banned journalists, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, posted a screenshot of the tweet that the website had flagged for doxxing: It was a report about Mastodon’s suspension for tweeting a link to it service’s own @ElonJet account.

Following the journalists’ suspensions, Musk posted a poll asking people whether he should reinstate the accounts of users who doxxed his exact location in real time “now” or “in 7 days.” The “now” option won, and Musk promised that those accounts will be restored. So far, Twitter has reinstated Harwell’s account, along with the accounts of The New York Times’Ryan Mac, Mashable’sMatt Binder, The Intercept’sMicah Lee and CNN’sDonie O’Sullivan. Keith Olbermann’s account is still suspended, and it’s unclear if Twitter will lift @ElonJet’s suspension in the coming days.