jonguiDec 16, 2022
Marco Arment

Just verified with a Twitter test account:

Twitter is now blocking all links to well-known Mastodon instances (including mastodon.social and hachyderm.io) from being tweeted or added to profiles.

Best-case, a heuristic is broken, and it probably has no staff to run it anymore. That's my most optimistic theory, and even I'm not naive enough to believe it at this point.

“Free speech", my ass.

Freedom doesn't hide alternatives from you or try to prevent you from leaving.

Dec 16, 2022 at 2:02pmMastodon for iOS
Show thread(((Jann Gobble)))🏳️‍🌈Dec 16, 2022
@marcoarment I'm not even posting there anymore or I'd test twit.social's link out.
Show threadPaul SquiresDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment verified with my own link earlier, through Tweetbot (so not just web front end)
Show threadE.J. KalafarskiDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment Saw this happening myself when I tried to post my Mastodon handle. Very Berlin Wall vibes.
Show threadMichael KnepprathDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment I think the streisand effect’s gonna bite him, this is drawing way more attention to mastodon than simply ignoring it would have
Show threadrobertoranonDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment I had the feeling "Free-speech absolutist" standed for free speech-my-ass
Show threadMarg Eliz Dec 16, 2022
@marcoarment I locked my account, deleted my tweets and added links to my Mastodon and Post.news profiles. Those links work from my Twitter profile while logged in via the web. I’m not using my account due to Mush’s behavior. I hope he crashes and burns. Free speech my 🍑
Show threaddavuntDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment also blocking @pixelfed links. Don’t think there’s anyway Elon can claim it’s a mistake
Show threadAndrew ClementDec 16, 2022

@davunt @marcoarment @pixelfed they are doing some kind of automatic search to find any fed-iverse

I think even the instant @androiddev.social is blocked too

Show threadNic Lake Dec 16, 2022
@marcoarment Are we really surprised that Musk doesn’t care about free speech?
Show threadSam BrentnallDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment going to be hard to find all those users who move over from now on
Show threadMichael WelchDec 16, 2022
@sambrentnall @marcoarment you can still post your user Id. I just checked. So @mgwelch.
Show threadMichael WelchDec 16, 2022
@sambrentnall @marcoarment for now anyway.
Show threadMrB 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Dec 16, 2022
@marcoarment It's following and blocking some redirects as well, it looks very much like its intentional.
Show threadJohn ConwayDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment
My server is currently not blocked, so it appears to be manual. It could be automated very easily, however by checking whether a server responds to Mastodon API requests, so I'm not holding out hope that even with understaffing they won't figure out how to block it all.
Show thread(っ◔◡◔)っstephenDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment #free🍑
Show threadChris DDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment Yeah, I just tried some variations of my link and the same. Infuriating... I might just take a screenshot and paste it as an image - let's see if their OCR catches it!
Show threadStephane RuscherDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment Given the suspension of the Mastodon account, yeah, very optimistic.
Show threadGik  | 💙➡️🇺🇦Dec 16, 2022
@marcoarment Lock-in like that makes it Flee Speech -- get out while you can.
Show threadKirk KittellDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment noticed it last night on universeodon.com. From clicking the link in my Twitter bio:
Show threadRadelDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment holy crap, they're calling mastodon "unsafe". That's some friggin pot kettle right there....
Show threadDellaLunaDec 16, 2022
@mattradel @marcoarment I got the same thing, clicking through someone's link to their profile.
Show threadTrung Duc TranDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment can they block link to Mastodon handles in Twitter profile? I see your Mastodon link in your profile.
Show threadbpmarkowitzDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment added a link to mastodon to my personal site - and pinned my personal site to my profile.
Show threadAndrew ClementDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment can you still put a link to mastodon in your bio or is that blocked too?
Show thread13xforeverDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment they're handpicked, some blocked instances do not have mastodon mention anywhere in domain name (like pawoo.net); I've seen someone posting an error for a tiny instance with literally only hundreds of users (jorts.horse).
Show threadBrad HeightmanDec 16, 2022

@marcoarment I've seen some others say its intentional. If you spell out the link like mastodon DOT social while it make it not clickable, allows it to work.

It started a few weeks ago when I tested it.

https://indieweb.social/@bdaman/109362452705848851

bdaman (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image @[email protected] supposedly the few people left have deemed it harmful.

Indieweb.Social
Show threadSven Olaf Potstada 🇩🇪🇿🇦Dec 16, 2022
@marcoarment as a name it is not yet blocked (tried just now)
Show threadSloan StudioDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment This plus suspending so many journalist accounts is going to really accelerate movement away. So many use Twitter to get news as a primary usage that this is going to crush that platform as they set up shop here or elsewhere. Another short-sighted, selfish move.
Show threadChris DDec 16, 2022

@marcoarment So that did work: https://twitter.com/chris_di_carlo/status/1603755783929331714

Not the prettiest tweet but hey, at least it works!

Chris Di Carlo on Twitter

“Here's my M info:”

Twitter
Show threadマティアス  Dec 16, 2022
@marcoarment it still works using bitly. url shorteners are truly used for malicious things a lot of the time, so this is even more ironic. Anyhow, a simple redirect bypasses it all.
Show threadAnna-LenaDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment includes the chaos.social instance. Main instance of the German chaos computer club.
Show threadAndy AspaasDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment even my beloved mstdn.science is not allowed :(
Show threadjDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment Elon: Free speech!
Also Elon: No, not like that!
Show threadArmandoDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment this is displayed when opening a mastodon.social link from a Twitter bio 🤦‍♂️
Show threadJon HoffmanDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment you also can't post linktree in your bio, calls it malware.
Show threadJaiDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment would you delete your account on Twitter?
Show threadMarcDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment Their blocking follows HTTP redirects, but a good old meta-refresh foils it.
Show threadJared ManfrediDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment free speech, my ass should be their new marketing slogan 👌
Show threadChuck HanDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment @nova ur famous!!! :P
Show threadDan Collis-Puro :: 🍲👨‍💻🌱⛰️🐠Dec 16, 2022
@marcoarment can you imagine if bing refused to show apple links? it's ridiculous
Show threadCaptain_PickleshanksDec 16, 2022

@marcoarment I saw someone post a screen cap that, instead of showing the normal generic error, blatantly said that the link was considered malware 🙃

If I can find it again, I’ll comment it here.

Show threadCaptain_PickleshanksDec 16, 2022

@marcoarment Found it!

https://twitter.com/sosowski/status/1603690640969039872?s=46&t=gASFdQRl4kiLxAGCznxV1w

Sos Sosowski on Twitter

“You cannot put Mastodon links in your bio anymore.”

Twitter
Show threadBrian GrinterDec 16, 2022
@pickleshanks @marcoarment some people are getting around it by using QR codes, finally a legitimate use 😝
Show threadAndrea KulkarniDec 16, 2022
@pickleshanks @marcoarment
Show threadCaptain_PickleshanksDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment @andca Yup. It’s blatant suppression of competition at this point.
Show threadBret CarmichaelDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment Twitter gives a security warning for links already there.
Show threadOded ShopenDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment just tried and it worked for me (with hachyderm). Could have been a glitch, there were so many errors today on Twitter (failure to like, to retweet and more).
Show threadOded ShopenDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment scratch that… seems like it blocks the full URL https://hachyderm.io/@odedia
This is really bad.
Oded Shopen (@[email protected])

5 Posts, 75 Following, 4 Followers ·

Hachyderm.io
Show threadDrGomek 🐊Dec 16, 2022
@marcoarment
Show threadJim VanderveenDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment I've also verified this, my instance, union.place, is "potentially harmful" (to Elon's fragile ego, I guess).
Show threadEshu MarneediDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment Free speech in Elon speak means “speech I agree with”
Show threadRodneyDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment Right on!
Show threadWilliam GunnDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment You can still have your Mastodon handle as your name. I think this still works with the friend finder migration tools.
Show threadAdam WolfDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment I *was* able to add a hachyderm link to my profile on Twitter just now, so maybe it's just tweets they are blocked
Show threadbdbchDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment it's crazy how fast a maniac millionaire can ruin a social network (and Dave Chappelle's comedy special)
Show threadPersony Person 🇪🇺Dec 16, 2022

@marcoarment
Seems to be fine if you added a link to your profile several months ago.

Or maybe he hasn't blocked the Scottish (.scot) instance yet.

Show threadDirk KSDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment Others were reporting that it didn’t look through URL shorteners, I haven’t tested myself.
Show threadjimgeo✅Dec 16, 2022
@marcoarment i'm sure it's a temporary block due to spam reasons, and next week a feature that costs $8
Show threadDavid CohenDec 16, 2022
@marcoarment You forget that the right-wing definition of free speech is “Anything at all unless it criticises me”. Says so right there in the Constitution. 😂
Show threadDavid O'BrienDec 16, 2022

@marcoarment yeah, Melon Husk isn’t interested in free speech.

Just cheap speech.