X, the social media site owned by Elon Musk, is blocking links to encrypted messaging platform Signal. The issue was first reported by tech journalist Matt Binder in his substack blog.
Just like WhatsApp, which relies on a ”WA.me” URL format for sharing a direct message link, Signal also follows a similar approach to let users click on the “Signal.me” link and directly land in a one-on-one chat.
I tried sharing a Signal chat link to my profile on X and got an error message telling me that the post wasn’t sent. Moving over to the direct messages (DM) section, I tried to share my “signal.me” link with a few of my friends, but the message didn’t pass through.
Putting a signal link in public posts or DM’s simply returns a sending error, without any explanation. However, when updating the X bio with the link, the error message describes the “Signal.me” link as a malware.
X is also blocking users from clicking on Signal links shared in older posts. So far, the platform hasn’t said anything officially about why Signal links are running into a digital wall. For existing links out there on X, the platform is warning users that it may be malicious, Sammy, misleading, or something that violates X policies.
However, it seems that X is not keyword-blocking X. I was able to share my Signal username in posts and direct messages, without running into any error messages.
Binder speculates that X might be blocking Signal links because of government staffers fired by the DOGE agency led by Musk, who are now trying to anonymously share details as whistleblowers with journalists.
This won’t be the first time that X is blocking links to other platforms. In 2020, X started obstructing links to rival social media platforms such as Instagram, Mastodon, and Facebook, among others.
“Casually sharing occasional links is fine, but no more relentless advertising of competitors for free,” Musk said in a post back then. However, the restriction was lifted soon after backlash, including criticism from former chief, Jack Dorsey.
Signal is the platform journalists, activists, and whistleblowers have used extensively in the past, owing to the threat of revealing their identity and subsequent persecution and harassment. The open-source platform offers end-to-end encryption by default, in addition to robust account and identity verification tools.
Its unclear when X blocked “Signal.me” links on the platform. However, it seems like a fairly recent change as users have previously been able to include “Signal.me” links in public posts and in their profile bio. Other Signal links, such as Signal.org, do not appear to be blocked. Only the “Signal.me” URLs which are used to directly contact users through the app appear to be affected.
It appears that Signal is the only service currently affected. Links to other similar third-party services, such as URLs to contact users on Telegram, are allowed on X.
Security researchers at Mysk first noticed the issue on Sunday night, Feb. 16. They reached out to me via DM and we were able to confirm the various different ways (DM, post, profile bio, etc.) that X was blocking “Signal.me” links.
Signal has been an important tool for journalists over the years as really one of the few services that are truly private. All messages are end-to-end encrypted, everything is stored on device, and no content is kept on any Signal servers in the cloud. If a source wants to reach out to a reporter and be sure their communication would be as confidential as possible, Signal is usually one of the primary methods of choice.
Needless to say, Signal has been especially important over these past few weeks as federal employees have reached out to journalists to blow the whistle on what Elon Musk’s DOGE have been doing with access to data within numerous government agencies.
As of publishing, Signal users can still post their Signal handle on X, which users can then copy and paste into the Signal app.
