X is slowing down hyperlinks to web sites Elon Musk has publicly feuded with

It seems that Elon Musk is, as soon as once more, punishing web sites run by his perceived enemies. The web site previously often known as Twitter appears to be interfering with hyperlinks to The New York Instances, Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads and Substack to make them load noticeably slower.

Clicking hyperlinks to these web sites from inside X causes a big delay in loading the net pages in contrast with navigating to the hyperlinks from one other browser or web site. The delay, which appears to be about 5 seconds, was seen by customers on the Hacker Information and later The Washington Put up.

It seems to be widespread and solely affecting a handful of high-profile web sites that Musk has publicly attacked up to now. The consumer who first reported the problems on Hacker Information estimated the inexplicable delay first cropped up on August 4th, noting that it’s “so constant it is clearly deliberate.”

For now, it’s unclear if there’s a trigger for the delay aside from Musk’s private grievances with these corporations. However the lag solely appears to be affecting web sites that Musk has beforehand retaliated towards. He beforehand blocked hyperlinks to , , and different opponents. Musk has additionally The Instances, revoking the publication’s verified standing shortly earlier than the rollout of Twitter Blue (now known as X Premium). The proprietor of X can also be presently with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg over his launch of , Threads.

As normal, X didn’t reply to a request for remark. The corporate has largely stopped replying to press inquiries since Elon Musk fired its communications employees shortly after taking up the corporate.

This text initially appeared on Engadget at

Supply: Engadget