X, formerly recognized as Twitter, has come under scrutiny for allegedly impeding access to online competitors and organizations that Elon Musk has expressed public disapproval of.
The affected websites encompass Meta, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Substack, Reuters, the New York Times, and more. These platforms have been singled out for measures that deliberately prolong the loading times of links clicked within X, causing delays of up to five seconds.
This throttling practice has also inadvertently affected t.co, X’s link-shortening service, leading to a noticeable slowdown. It is essential to acknowledge that this system empowers X to reroute traffic, granting it the ability to throttle rival platforms and potentially influence advertising revenue.
While this revelation could be troubling news for Musk’s adversaries, recent indications suggest that X has initiated efforts to mitigate the waiting period and the alleged throttling actions. Although five seconds may seem trivial, enterprises commonly invest substantial resources into optimizing loading times due to its critical role in retaining web traffic.
Currently, neither Musk nor any spokesperson has issued a public statement regarding this issue.
Shifting gears to other technological developments, OpenAI is in the process of creating an AI-driven content moderation system utilizing the capabilities of GPT-4.