Twitter restricts interactions with Substack links

Twitter appears to be restricting interactions with posts linking to the newsletter platform Substack on Friday. 

When users tried to like or retweet posts that included links to Substack, they received a notification saying “some actions on this Tweet have been disabled by Twitter.”

Some users even reported receiving error messages when they tried to reply to tweets with substack links, even their own Substack post. 

In a statement shared with The Verge, Substack founders Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie and Jairaj Seth said they are “disappointed that twitter has chosen to restrict writers’ ability to share their work.” 

“Writers deserve the freedom to share links to Substack or anywhere else. This abrupt change is a reminder of why writers deserve a model that puts them in charge, that rewards great work with money, and that protects the free press and free speech. Their livelihoods should not be tied to platforms where they don’t own their relationship with their audience, and where the rules can change on a whim,” they added. 

The Hill reached out to Twitter for comment and received back a poop emoji which was set as the automated response for inquiries to the platform’s press account in March, while under CEO Elon Musk’s control. 

The apparent restrictions to Substack links came after Substack on Thursday said they were investigating reports that Twitter embeds were no longer working on Substack, limiting users from including links to Twitter in their posts. 

Both changes followed Substack’s rollout Wednesday of its new Notes feature. With Notes, users will be able to post short-form content, and it appears more like a traditional social media feed.