Mastodawn

CONFIRMED: Facebook has *banned* anyone from linking to Pixelfed. #MetaBlockingPixelfed I just tried posting a message on Facebook that reads: "Anyone here using Pixelfed?" with a link to Pixelfed.Social Within *seconds* I got a post saying my post was banned. Screenshots below.

Bluesky

Bluesky Social

Vytautas Butėnas Jan 12

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social not really surprising...

Henry Coggins Jan 12

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social Shocking but not surprising, unfortunately.

Josh McKinnon Jan 12

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social @stufromoz guess they’re still doing content moderation after all

Cycling Stu Jan 12

@corduroy @ajsadauskas.bsky.social they do for Australia

Now at @aj@gts.sadauskas.id.au Jan 12

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social Ping @dansup @pixelfed Independently confirmed...

Jakke Lehtonen Jan 12

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social that is nothing new. Facebook has done that with almost every links to blogs etc. for long time now.

It is matter of wording, and if one is linking as an OP, not commenting.

Ted Johnson Jan 12

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social Or as they say on Meta platforms: Mark Zuckerberg endorses Pixelfed

Vladimir Chicken Jan 12

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social I tried to get banned from facebook by doing this but so far it hasn't worked!

Tad ‘van’ Sander 🌻🍉Jan 12

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social the same happened with posts about mastodon on Twitter in early days of Space Karen in charge. I'm not surprised in the slightest.

Mastodon Migration Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social

Big bad Meta bans Pixelfed posts!

Let's Striesand effect this crap!

Trick people to visit or stay on a website
Yeah they're just bragging about being evil at that point.

Oliver Brandmüller Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social
I smell Streisand vibes.

JohnnyThan Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social They are scared. Good.

Now let's use talking in person and snail mail to get everyone off those platforms ;).

Frank Heijkamp Jan 13

@JohnnyThan @ajsadauskas.bsky.social #ClickXToLeaveThePlatform

Frank Heijkamp Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social That is what their interpretation is of free speech.

Thibaultmol 🌈 🔜@WHY2025 Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social oh, are they scared?... XDDDD

Schmaker Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social
Comming soon to Bsky? 😀

Eoin O'Beara Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social That's an endorsement for Pixelfed to me.

Colin McMillen Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social It was doing the same each time I mentioned my #Peertube & #Invidious client in an Apple II group.
They're not even trying to hide it.

Colin McMillen Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social I should have A/B tested to figure out which one it didn't like.

TheJaySunday Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social looks like Zuck went full Elon

Christian Quest 🌍Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social

Confirmed in France too !

#MetaBlockingPixelfed

Troll 🏖️Jan 13

@cquest
Bonjour, je peux vous demander c'était quoi la raison invoquée pour la suppression du message ? Du Spam également ?

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social

Christian Quest 🌍Jan 13

@Troll@Troll@maly.io oui « spam »

C'est pas déjà le cas avec n'importe quel lien ?
Il me semble que poster des liens est mal vu par Meta (c'est pourquoi on voit beaucoup de gens poster des captures d'écran à la place)

Christian Quest 🌍Jan 13

@koantig je n'ai jamais eu un message de ce type en postant un lien.

Ils ont clairement une liste noire.

@cquest
Merci de confirmer !

Johan Vandevelde 🖋 ✅Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social Yep, even if you post a link in a comment under someone's post. Someone was asking for FB alternatives and I gave a link to Mastodon. My comment was immediately removed, also because of 'spam'.

supernov Jan 13

@johanvandevelde @ajsadauskas.bsky.social I didn't provide a link but my names to find me here, that seemed to work.

Mika T. Lindqvist Jan 20

I've posted a lot of links to third-party sites on Meta services and none of them have been removed... The trick is to format the text so it doesn't look like a question. Posting links in comments has been against guidelines as far as I can remember.

Johan Vandevelde 🖋 ✅Jan 20

@mika.talleo.org Posts with links don't get removed, they are just shadowbanned as in getting less exposure.

Manfredou Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social

Hello first for Instagram

Then I will test for pixelfed

𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚐 🤒 𓆏𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊 Jan 13

I was just mentioning Pixelfed & Fedica to ppl as IG/FB alternatives. That might be indicative that MANY folks are making an exodus to these services and Meta isn't happy about it. It would be awesome if you could check if Threads & IG are also blocking links.

𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚐 🤒 𓆏𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊 Jan 13

BTW, this made it to Hacker News

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:s4xmseub4a4pwwetg2xxmcyy/post/3lfmdewhnfo2w

Hacker News Top 100 Bot (Unofficial) (@hn100.bsky.social)

Facebook blocks links to Pixelfed, a federated Instagram alternative Discussion

Bluesky Social

Kees N ✅Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social
Hm, English is not my first language, so I may misunderstand them, but I see nothing in the rules you showed that would prohibit this.
I wonder if they would do the same for hyperlinks to elon musk at x dot com? 😎

nicolas ⁂Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social Absolutely terrible. I wonder if they only blocked pixelfed.social and pixelfed.org or all other instances they could know about.

westbrook Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social Only _WE_ can use misleading links or content to trick people to stay on a website... and that for sure we will continue to fact check! 😤

Carl O.S. ©Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social @morenonatural I think that the "net neutrality" principle should be applied in cases like this to avoid arbitrary censorship on social network platforms.

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social The same happened in the early days of x/tt

the words are maps 🗺📚🏡🏳️‍🌈Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social 404 media wrote about this as well https://www.404media.co/meta-is-blocking-links-to-decentralized-instagram-competitor-pixelfed/

Meta Is Blocking Links to Decentralized Instagram Competitor Pixelfed

Pixelfed said it is "seeing unprecedented levels of traffic."

404 Media

The free speech, let the market decide, libertarians always seem very jumpy at the idea of any sort of competition that they can't artificially make more awkward for people to interoperate with. www.404media.co/meta-is-bloc...

Meta Is Blocking Links to Dece...

Meta Is Blocking Links to Decentralized Instagram Competitor Pixelfed

Pixelfed said it is "seeing unprecedented levels of traffic."

404 Media

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social That's actually a good sign. That means they are afraid!

×

Christian Quest 🌍Jan 13

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social

Confirmed in France too !

#MetaBlockingPixelfed

Troll 🏖️Jan 13

@cquest
Bonjour, je peux vous demander c'était quoi la raison invoquée pour la suppression du message ? Du Spam également ?

@ajsadauskas.bsky.social

Christian Quest 🌍Jan 13

@Troll@Troll@maly.io oui « spam »

C'est pas déjà le cas avec n'importe quel lien ?
Il me semble que poster des liens est mal vu par Meta (c'est pourquoi on voit beaucoup de gens poster des captures d'écran à la place)

Christian Quest 🌍Jan 13

@koantig je n'ai jamais eu un message de ce type en postant un lien.

Ils ont clairement une liste noire.

@cquest
Merci de confirmer !