Matt Taibbi plans to use Substack Notes instead of Twitter after learning Twitter is blocking Substack links because the company is upset about Substack Notes
On staying at Substack, and leaving Twitter, I guess — Earlier this afternoon, I learned Substack links were being blocked on Twitter.
Racket News Matt Taibbi
Context & Ripple Effects
Substack had already outlined a “real alternative” to Twitter built around writer-reader interaction, making Notes a direct extension of its publishing platform into social distribution. Twitter’s response turned that product overlap into an access dispute rather than a normal competition for attention.
The episode quickly broadened beyond one writer: Twitter also began attaching safety-style warnings to Substack URLs, while Substack’s founders framed the move as evidence for platforms that protect publishers’ distribution. That matters because writers rely on social networks to reach audiences they do not fully control.
First-order effects
- Taibbi says he will shift his posting activity to Substack Notes, reducing his use of Twitter after the service blocked links to his publication.
- Twitter’s link block—and the related warning labels on Substack URLs—immediately makes it harder for Substack writers to use Twitter as a referral channel.
Second-order effects
- Substack gains a concrete reason for writers and readers to try Notes: it can serve as an in-platform channel for promotion and conversation when outbound distribution is restricted.
- Other writers using Twitter to market paid newsletters must weigh the reach of the social network against the risk that a platform can impair links to a competing publishing service.
Third-order effects
- If social platforms increasingly restrict links to rival publishing or community products, creators’ distribution becomes more dependent on the platforms where they host and build audiences.
- The later shift toward followers and harder subscription migration described in Substack’s retention-focused product changes suggests the broader competition is over durable audience ownership, not only newsletter publishing tools.
The trend: This is one data point in the convergence of creator publishing platforms and social feeds, where control of audience distribution becomes a competitive lever.
Related: Substack Notes · Twitter · Substack · Twitter flags Substack links as potentially unsafe · Substack’s founders respond to Twitter’s link block · Substack’s planned alternative to Twitter
Related Coverage
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- Will Elon Musk kill Substack? Noahpinion
- One of Elon's handpicked ‘Twitter Files’ writers quits Twitter over its Substack restrictions The Verge
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- Why journalist Matt Taibbi, Substack and Elon Musk's Twitter are at loggerheads The Economic Times
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- Substack was hamstrung by Twitter right after it announced a rival service Fortune
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- Twitter is now redirecting searches for “Substack” to “newsletter.” The Verge
- Elon Musk apparently on the outs with Matt Taibbi over Twitter-Substack feud Mashable
- Reportedly Twitter is now restricting links to, and retweets of, many other social media and author platforms, not just Mastodon. — What next? Blocking access to competing ISPs on Starlink? … @mattblaze@federate.social
- Infosec twitter is so broken that the UK's biggest government IT provider getting hit with ransomware only gets a single tweet.. pointing to my Mastodon toot. @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social
- Elon has managed to piss off even his latest water-carrier, Matt Taibbi. — When will people realize that loyalty to Elon (like loyalty to Trump) is always required, but never rewarded? … @drahardja@sfba.social
- A non-conspiracy I drummed up in service to an idiot billionaire was just proven to be a heaving mountain of bullshit, anyhoo off for some well earned vacation with the kids thanks to the millions I make being a contrarian controversy troll and authoritarian earlobe nibbler @KarlBode@masto.ai
- @anildash It's a very different pathology on Substack, where the need to constantly tell your paying subscribers what they want to hear serves as your editor. @alex@cybervillains.com
- Twitter versus Substack, you say? Let me get the kernels popped and fetch the good butter. @lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com
- I often joke that cryptocurrencies are replaying the entire history of financial crimes but with blockchains; likewise Elon is replaying a highlights reel of the history of forum drama, but using twitter @leigh@ottawa.place
- call me petty but the twitter/substack beef is funny as hell imo @leigh@ottawa.place
- An account with 250k followers (@nycsouthpaw) tweets a link to a story about Twitter suppression. It has zero RTs 30 minutes later because when you try to RT it says “Some actions on this tweet have been disabled by twitter” (see the bottom) @RobertMaguire@journa.host
- Now it's not even letting me respond to my own tweet about it. Same message at the bottom. @RobertMaguire@journa.host
- A media outlet not at least looking for alternatives to Twitter in 2023 is bringing upon itself tremendous potential liability. @jeff@indieweb.social
- Taibbi, who is in regular contact with Musk, was told Substack is being punished because of “a dispute over the new Substack Notes platform” — Taibbi was “given the option of posting articles to Twitter instead” @juddlegum@journa.host
- The lesson isn't just that you have to get off of Twitter; the lesson is you also have to get off of Substack. @anildash@me.dm
- Twitter blocking links to Substack newsletters is dumb. The timing, on the other hand ... Thursday: Mehdi Hasan absolutely destroys Taibbi over his Twitter files nonsense. … @jank0@sfba.social
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- Elon can't even keep his right-wing sycophants on his side any more: https://www.racket.news/... @seldo@alpaca.gold
- Elon Musk, an overconfident narcissistic billionaire, continues to make incredibly boneheaded business decisions with Twitter. His latest move, to try to ban Substack links, warrants a reposting of my most popular newsletter edition of all-time … @brianklaas@journa.host
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Discussion
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@davew@mastodon.social
Dave Winer
on mastodon
When all is said and done the value of twitter is its role as the place of record for public communication. It maintained that even after banning the president of the United States. But that is the very thing that Musk is dismantling.
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@WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social
Warner Crocker
on mastodon
Irony may be experiencing a bit of a resurrection. Everybody's favorite Twitter Files whipping boy Matt Taibbi is quitting Twitter because the muskies have cut off links to Substack. — #substack #twitter
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@drewharwell@mastodon.social
Drew Harwell
on mastodon
Twitter did the same thing with Mastodon in December, then suspended journalists like me who pointed that out https://www.theverge.com/...
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@caseynewton@mastodon.social
Casey Newton
on mastodon
What is happening on Twitter today is so funny that I can almost enjoy it
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@jaspar@mastodon.online
J Emory Parker
on mastodon
having a hard time keeping track of what websites folks are and aren't allowed to talk about on the Free Speech website [twitter]
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@Popehat@mastodon.social
Ken White
on mastodon
Her: What is it? Your fetish. Your deepest, darkest fantasy. You don't have to be afraid to . . . Me: THE WORST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD FIGHTING — https://www.mediaite.com/...
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@bigtechalert
@bigtechalert
on x
👀 @ElonMusk (Account that mostly reposts old memes) is no longer following @mtaibbi
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@mtaibbi
Matt Taibbi
on x
Of all things: I learned earlier today that Substack links were being blocked on this platform. When I asked why, I was told it's a dispute over the new Substack Notes platform...
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@maxwelltani
Max Tani
on x
Matt Taibbi emails subscribers to his Substack saying he will no longer be using Twitter because of the platform's restrictions on engaging with Substack links https://twitter.com/...
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@oalexanderdk
Oliver Alexander
on x
Elon claims that Substack links were never blocked, Substack was downloading Twitter's database and that Matt Taibbi is a Substack employee. Substack CEO Chris Best refutes all three points. I wonder who to believe? Chris Best or a pathological liar? https://twitter.com/... https…
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@slickrockweb
Eric Ellason
on x
All the breathless right-wing Twitter spaces spent on the #TwitterFiles ... I almost feel sorry for all the time they wasted .... nah ... I don't. Good tweet from the great Ben Collins https://twitter.com/...
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@mehdirhasan
Mehdi Hasan
on x
Update: today Elon Musk accused Matt Taibbi of making false statements. 🤷🏽♂️ https://twitter.com/...
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@ericnewcomer
Eric Newcomer
on x
Where is the Twitter free speech crowd right now? @DavidSacks @pmarca @antoniogm Twitter even seems to be stifling independent coverage of censorship of the newsletter platform that shall not be named.
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@senronjohnson
Senator Ron Johnson
on x
.@elonmusk, you say Twitter isn't blocking Substacks. Ok, so I'll ask again: Why did Twitter block my tweet about the death of a 14 yr-old in Japan following a Covid-19 booster? Twitter labeled the Truth “unsafe.” Why? https://twitter.com/...
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@konstantinkisin
Konstantin Kisin
on x
It's blocking them RIGHT NOW and preventing likes and retweets on tweets with such links in them. I really hope this is some kind of technical error and not a policy decision... https://twitter.com/...
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@hansmahncke
Hans Mahncke
on x
A lot of acrimony could've been avoided if Twitter had just issued a statement: “We've restricted Substack because they were downloading a massive portion of the Twitter database to bootstrap their Twitter clone.” Remember that old Twitter was hated due to lack of transparency. h…
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@sethabramson
Seth Abramson
on x
What the hell does this even mean? Substack links were put behind a fake warning page that falsely called the site “unsafe,” then RTs, likes, comments, pins, bookmarks and searches were disabled for all Substack posts across all of Twitter. And Taibbi *doesn't* work for Substack.…
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@tomcoates
Tom Coates
on x
We should remember that Musk's assaults on Substack are bad, but that Substack itself is not much better.
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@matthewstoller
Matt Stoller
on x
This is likely a false and deceptive statement, and that's unlawful. Twitter not only blocked Substack links, but also refuses to let tweets to be embedded in Substack posts. Twitter is already under an FTC consent decree and I suspect Musk is going to be in real trouble. https:/…
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@janiskirsteins
Jānis Kiršteins
on x
@paulg Elon is an investor in the company trying to kill Twitter.
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@mehdirhasan
Mehdi Hasan
on x
“I like Elon Musk... I thought his motives were sincere...I admired them. I think he did a tremendous public service.” - Matt Taibbi to me... *checks notes*...yesterday.
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@alexweprin
Alex Weprin
on x
Lol https://twitter.com/...
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@mikedrucker
Mike Drucker
on x
I gotta give credit to the “account that mostly reposts old memes” part https://twitter.com/...
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@oalexanderdk
Oliver Alexander
on x
Matt Taibbi is leaving Twitter. You can't make this shit up. Textbook “Leopards Eating People's Faces Party” moment. https://twitter.com/...
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@kantrowitz
Alex Kantrowitz
on x
The Twitter Files https://twitter.com/...
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@thelincoln
Lincoln Michel
on x
To recap Taibbi was handpicked by Musk to provide cover while Musk instituted anti-speech actions. Taibbi refused to criticize Musk's actions for fear of losing access. Then Musk threatened his income stream so he quit Twitter and lost access anyway 🤡 https://twitter.com/...
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@plinz
Joscha Bach
on x
Banning substack links in an attempt to make substack remove functionality is almost as hamfisted and stupidly evil as banning Paul Graham's account over linking to mastodon https://www.racket.news/...
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@sub8u
@sub8u
on x
Step 1: Shut down own newsletter product, Revue Step 2: Disable engagement to links to (supposed) competitor, Substack Step 3: Disable all mentions of ‘Substack’? Twitter's problem, for long, has been lack of a genuine competitor. It's now fighting itself https://twitter.com/...
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@carnage4life
Dare Obasanjo
on x
Now that's one poorly aged tweet. https://twitter.com/...
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@mattnavarra
Matt Navarra
on x
I never thought I'd say this im close to be being done with twitter
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@edzitron
Ed Zitron
on x
Just an insane unforced error. And one that can be easily sidestepped unless musk bans all url shorteners! Absolute bullshit god damn
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@ditzkoff
Dave Itzkoff
on x
https://twitter.com/...
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@mikeisaac
@mikeisaac
on x
friendship with taibbi ended now (?) is my best friend
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@zakavkaza
Maximilian Hess
on x
“I never thought leopards would eat my face” sobs PR man who shilled for leopards eating faces party
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@davewiner
Dave Winer
on x
Twitter is making Substack look good.
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@rmac18
@rmac18
on x
Lot of faces getting eaten today. Incredible to see.
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@oalexanderdk
Oliver Alexander
on x
This aged like milk inside a car in the summer heat. [Video of Taibbi on a CNBC interview saying he refuses to criticize Elon Musk]
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@zoeschiffer
Zoë Schiffer
on x
Huh — Matt Taibbi is leaving Twitter after the platform blocked Substack links. He said the decision “will come with a price as far as any future Twitter Files reports are concerned.”