Matt Taibbi, the journalist behind Elon Musk’s “Twitter Files”, said he will be leaving the platform.
On Friday, the 53-year-old journalist tweeted he was leaving Twitter after links to Substack were restricted.
“Of all things: I learned earlier today that Substack links were being blocked on this platform,” he wrote. “When I asked why, I was told it’s a dispute over the new Substack Notes platform.”
“Since sharing links to my articles is a primary reason I come to this platform, I was alarmed and asked what was going on,” Taibbi said.
“I was given the option of posting articles on Twitter instead. I’m obviously staying at Substack, and will be moving to Substack Notes next week.”
The Daily Beast reported that Taibbi wrote on Substack chat that the disabling of Substack links on Twitter “will likely make the platform unusable for me”.
Several Twitter users mocked the journalist for the move and also said the Tesla billionaire had unfollowed the journalist.
“Bro kissed Elon Musk’s a** so hard with hack pseudo-journalism, and he can’t even link his work on here. Deserved,” wrote one user.
“When the leopard you had been helping eat other people’s faces turns around and eats your face,” tweeted Mississippi Free Press editor Ashton Pittman.
Soon after the news of Twitter disabling Substack links spread, the platform’s founders Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie and Jairaj Sethi issued a statement.
“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,” they wrote.
“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.”
TV journalist Mehdi Hasan, who confronted Taibbi about alleged inaccuracies in his reporting, also commented on his move to quit Twitter.
“So hold on, literally the day after he told me that likes and admires Elon Musk, specially for Musk’s handling of Twitter, and refused point blank to criticize Elon Musk, Taibbi is quitting Musk’s Twitter? You literally can’t make this stuff up,” Hasan wrote.
