Elon Musk's X Removes Headlines from News Article Shares

X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, owned by tech magnate Elon Musk, has initiated a controversial step that strips headlines from news articles shared by users. This unexpected turn of events is anticipated to exacerbate already strained relations with media groups, a sector Musk has frequently criticised.

In defence of the alteration, Musk cited "aesthetic" reasons. Consequently, news articles and other shared links now appear solely as images, devoid of any surrounding text. Musk's history with Twitter, which underwent a rebranding to X after a hefty $44 billion takeover last year, has been a rocky one. Thousands of employees being laid off, ad patronage plummeting due to the unwelcome return of banned conspiracy theorists and extremists, and temporary bans on journalists from mainstream outlets such as CNN and the Washington Post have catalysed a toxic environment.

Several significant media outlets have opted for self-imposed exile from X due to escalating hate speech incidents and Musk's handling of the platform. A group of French news establishments, together with AFP, has gone as far as pursuing legal action against X, alleging copyright violations.

This latest adjustment, announced in August and slowly rolled out this week, means that instead of visualizing a headline accompanying an image, users only see the image with a minor watermark. Critics, such as Verge website journalist Tom Warren, slam the changes as "the latest in a long line of dumb changes.”

Concerns mount regarding the difficulty in discerning real news from misinformation, sculpting an unnerving shadow over X's credibility. In a September report, the European Commission identified X as carrying a higher misinformation influence than any other social media platform.

The negative dynamics unfolding between tech companies and media are not confined to X. Giants like Google and Meta are also resisting laws that compel them to compensate media companies for displaying their stories. Notably, these shifts have tangible repercussions, as reported by Axios, stating that referrals from X and Facebook to media websites have experienced a drastic dip over the last three years.