Users who clicked a link on Musk’s website, now called X, for one of the targeted websites were made to wait about five seconds before seeing the page, according to tests conducted Tuesday by The Washington Post.

The delayed websites included X’s online rivals Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and Substack, as well as the Reuters wire service and the Times. All of them have previously been singled out by Musk for ridicule or attack.

To continue reading this Washington Post report, go to:
washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/15/twitter-x-links-delayed/

Also see:

X appears to slow load times for links to several news outlets and rival platforms
Link loading times to some Twitter competitors and news media sites posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, appeared to be delayed or throttled for much of Tuesday.

Links posted to X that directed to sites including the New York Times, Reuters, Facebook, Substack and X competitors Bluesky and Threads took around 5 seconds to load — a notable slowdown from the typically nearly instantaneous loading times, according to observations by CNN reporters. Many other sites, such as NBA.com, CNN, retailer Target and other sites did not appear to be affected by the issue.

The delays were first reported by users of the technology forum Hacker News.
edition.cnn.com/2023/08/15/tech/x-twitter-link-delays/index.html

X Slows Down Access to Some Rival Sites
X, the social media service formerly known as Twitter, slowed down access from its platform to rival sites such as Substack and Facebook, but on Tuesday began reversing an effort to restrict its users from quickly viewing news sites, according to a New York Times analysis. The slowness, known in tech parlance as “throttling,” initially affected rival social networks including Facebook, Bluesky and Instagram, as well as the newsletter site Substack and news outlets including Reuters and The New York Times, according to The Times’s analysis. The delay to load links from X was relatively minor — about 4.5 seconds — but still noticeable, according to the analysis. Several of the services that were throttled have faced the ire of X’s owner, Elon Musk.

The slowness, known in tech parlance as “throttling,” initially affected rival social networks including Facebook, Bluesky and Instagram, as well as the newsletter site Substack and news outlets including Reuters and The New York Times, according to The Times’s analysis. The delay to load links from X was relatively minor — about 4.5 seconds — but still noticeable, according to the analysis. Several of the services that were throttled have faced the ire of X’s owner, Elon Musk.

By Tuesday afternoon, the delay to reaching the news sites appeared to have lifted, according to The Times’s analysis.
nytimes.com/2023/08/15/technology/x-delay-throttle.html

Musk’s X delays access to content on Reuters, NY Times, social media rivals
Social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, delayed access to links to content on the Reuters and New York Times websites as well as rivals like Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram, according to a Washington Post report on Tuesday.

Clicking a link on X to one of the affected websites resulted in a delay of about five seconds before the webpage loaded, the Washington Post reported, citing tests it conducted on Tuesday. Reuters also saw a similar delay in tests it ran.
reuters.com/business/media-telecom/musks-x-delays-access-content-reuters-ny-times-social-media-rivals-2023-08-16/