The American press wrote that access to various well-known media sites was slowed down for several hours for those who wanted to access the links on the X (Twitter) network. Those who followed the link from X to publications such as Reuters or the New York Times had to wait 4.5 to 5 seconds. The problem was solved in the meantime.

The Washington Post reported the incident on Tuesday in an article titled “Elon Musk’s X Slows Traffic to Websites He Doesn’t Like,” while the New York Times published an analysis: “X Slows Access to Some Competing Sites.”

This slowdown meant, in special terms, that users who clicked on links to various sites on the X network had to wait several seconds. The lag was noticeable if the links were to Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, Substack, Reuters and The New York Times.

Links to Fox News, YouTube and Mastodon were not affected.

This artificial delay in loading websites or apps was disabled after the publication of a Washington Post investigation into Elon Musk’s tactics.

This is not the first time that the billionaire has used the technical capabilities of Twitter to make it difficult for rival networks to gain access. Last year, access to the Mastodon network, which competes with Twitter but has several dozen times fewer users, was briefly blocked.

The biggest online companies spend millions of dollars to make sure their sites load very quickly, knowing that even a few seconds matter and some users will give up and traffic will drop if the delay continues.

X’s case is serious at this point, but luckily it didn’t last long and the incident was quickly reported.

Elon Musk often criticized major publications when he disagreed with what they wrote about him. Sometimes he called them propaganda, sometimes he was much harsher in his statement.