X reportedly limiting user reach to posts linking NYT

X seems to be impacting the New York Times’ posts, reducing their user reach and engagement on the platform


Tech Desk September 12, 2023
The New York Times said September 20, 2016 it was teaming with Google parent Alphabet in an effort to help filter its online reader comments to maintain a "civil and thoughtful" atmosphere. PHOTO: AFP

Data from NewsWhip shows that engagement on public posts linked to the New York Times website has dropped dramatically since late July, according to Semafor.

Interestingly, other news organisations like BBC, CNN, the Washington Post, etc have not experienced a similar drop in engagements.

While the New York Times' reach hasn't changed on Facebook and other social media platforms, their X account seems to be impacted greatly with recent tweets by former President Barack Obama that include NYT links seeing less engagement in comparison to his other posts.

It's unclear what is causing the drop in user reach and engagement but it won't be the first time Elon Musk has begun limiting user reach and affecting engagement for specific accounts and organisations.

In August, X interfered with links to Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads, Substack and the New York Times, making them load noticeably slower.

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