Elon Musk removes headlines from press articles shared on X (formerly Twitter)

Links and press articles shared on the X platform (formerly Twitter) now appear only in the form of an image without a title or description, which Elon Musk said disappeared for “aesthetic” reasons, AFP said on Thursday.

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Some media already noted the interface change, which was generalized between October 3 and 4, during the testing phase in mid-August.

Elon Musk predicted it: “This is coming straight from me. The aesthetics (of the social network) will be greatly improved,” he wrote.

When a user shares a press article, only the name of the media that published it still appears in the lower left corner of the illustrative image and allows access to the content by clicking on the image.

Elon Musk, who bought the social network last year, is trying to stem the decline in advertising revenue by encouraging users to spend more time on the platform and therefore share fewer external links.

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The billionaire head of Tesla and Starlink has been accused of being hostile to the media, many of whom have announced they are pulling out of the platform.

On October 3, Elon Musk “almost never consults traditional media. What’s the point of reading 1000 words about something that was already shared on X several days ago?”

In September, the European Commission revealed a study showing the platform and misinformation in its publications.

This summer, Twitter was also brought before the French courts by Agence France Presse (AFP) and three French press groups, who wanted information that would allow them to negotiate remuneration for the use of their content.