X Slows Down Access to Some Rival Sites

X, the social media service formerly known as Twitter, slowed down access from its platform to rival sites such as Substack and Facebook, but has begun reversing an effort to restrict its users from quickly viewing news sites. The slowness, known in tech parlance as “throttling,” initially affected rival social networks including Facebook, Bluesky and Instagram, as well as the newsletter site Substack and news outlets including Reuters and The New York Times. The delay to load links from X was relatively minor — about 4.5 seconds — but still noticeable. Several of the services that were throttled have faced the ire of X’s owner, Elon Musk.