Elon Musk’s X preventing access to Signal

Elon Musk’s X social media platform appears to be blocking links to Signal, the secure message service portal.

Users of the former Twitter are currently unable to link to Signal.me, with several failure notifications showing. These are identifying the blocked messages as containing spam, harmful, or malicious activity. 

As initially reported by Matt Binder, the issue appears to be restricted to Signal.me links, not the main Signal.org domain or other encrypted services such as Telegram. 

Signal.me is typically used by journalists to convey and receive confidential information, due to its end-to-end encryption and stored on device credentials.

This is particularly pertinent in recent weeks given the activity of Elon Musk’s DOGE team, and its entrance into federal government departments and official communication systems.

Signal has been one of the tools used by federal whistleblowers to release DOGE actions to the media.

In addition to Signal.me links being blocked on X, users have been discouraged from clicking on existing links sent before the ban. 

When this is attempted, an update displays a failure message due to the content being considered malware. The alert reads:

“Warning: this link may be unsafe. The link you are trying to access has been identified by X or our partners as being potentially spammy or unsafe, in accordance with X’s URL Policy.” 

Despite this, users can ignore the warning and click through an additional link on the warning page to direct to the original Signal.me link.

new from me: Elon Musk's X appears to be blocking links to directly contact users on Signal

Signal, the encrypted messaging app, has recently become a major tool for government workers looking to blow the whistle on DOGE

link below

— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) February 17, 2025

It wouldn’t be the first time X has attempted to turn the screw on perceived rival platforms or third-party services gaining prominence on its patch.

In 2022, Facebook, Instagram, and Mastodon links were shut down temporarily, while long-form site Substack was targeted in 2023 due to the launch of its Twitter-like Notes feature.

The difference this time is that Signal is unlike these apps and platforms. It is not a social media rival to X, which suggests it is more about what it is doing, and vested interests.

Image credit: Grok/X

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