Elon Musks Twitter Bans and Blocks Links to Rival Mastodon

The Twitter account inviting users to join rival social network Mastodon has been suspended.

Mastodon's official Twitter account has been suspended, only one day after jet tracker Jack Sweeney made the switch from Twitter.

Twitter also appears to be restricting tweets linking to several key Mastodon servers; tweets to numerous Mastodon sites result in an error message reading, "We can't finish this request because this link has been flagged as potentially dangerous by Twitter or our partners." The connection ban came after a turbulent Thursday night in which many notable journalists were suspended from Twitter.

Mastodon, a rapidly developing decentralised social network that tries to duplicate Twitter's greatest elements while removing its massive flaws, has emerged as the go-to alternative to Twitter. Elon Musk has managed to embroil the social media behemoth in a succession of contentious firings, suspensions, and reinstatements since taking over Twitter in a $44 billion deal. Notably, the free-speech advocate barred Ye from Twitter after the rapper tweeted an image of a swastika entwined with a Star of David, while also reintroducing a swelling army of neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and bigots to the platform, including Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

As celebrities and everyday people bid farewell to Twitter amid the dramatic changes, Musk (whose known fondness for expelling accounts that irritate him has become a recurring theme) has suspended competitor Mastodon's Twitter account. The move contrasts sharply with Musk's stance as a "free speech absolutist," who has repeatedly tweeted catchphrases like "Sunlight is the best disinfectant" and "Transparency is the key to trust," but does not share those same values when it comes to his personal Twitter judgments.

While Mastodon's Twitter account has been deactivated, other social media platforms such as Facebook and Tiktok remain operational for the time being.