Twitter reportedly blocking links to Threads, but there’s a workaround

It is still unclear if this behaviour is intentional. (Image: Andy Baio/Threads)

For the uninitiated, the ‘url:’ search operator is used by Twitter users who want to search for links tied to a specific URL, which in this case is Threads. If you search for ‘url:indianexpress.com’, the search results will show every tweet that links to the website, irrespective of whether it has been shortened.

Even if you search for ‘threads.net’ without the operator, Twitter will show results which include profiles of people who have a Threads link in their bio or those talking about the newly launched platform, but you won’t be able to see any links to Threads.

As it turns out, there’s a simple workaround. Just enter the term ‘url: threads net’ in the search bar and the microblogging platform will now show you results and links to Threads.

It is still unclear if Twitter is intentionally blocking links to Threads, but this is not the first the company has done so. Earlier this year, the micro-blogging platform started limiting how users could engage with Substack after the latter announced that it would start its own service called Notes. Many said they were unable to like, reply or even retweet posts that embedded Substack links.

While that drama did not last long with Substack saying the problem was resolved a day later, it remains to be seen how long Twitter continues to filter out Threads links.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg recently announced Threads has now 100 million users in just a week, which makes it the fastest-growing app in history, even surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which took somewhere around two months to reach the milestone.