Social media platform X has prevented its users from posting links to messaging service Signal, although links to similar services including Telegram have not been affected.
Error messages have been generated when users have attempted to post Signal links, with some highlighting the blocked messages as containing malicious content.
Signal is popular with journalists because it offers end-to-end encrypted messaging, and it has recently been used by federal whistleblowers to reveal compromising activity at DOGE.
It is unclear whether the blocking of Signal links is intentional; other platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Mastodon have also been blocked on X, as part of a crackdown on platforms that advertise on X.
Substack links have also been restricted, after Substack released a Twitter-like feature.
However, Signal is not a direct competitor to X, so the blocking of links may be a result of algorithmic error as much as anti-competitive practice.