Elon Musk's social media platform X is banning links to "Signal.me," a URL used by the encrypted messaging service Signal. The "Signal.me" domain name is used exclusively by the service and allows users to send quick links through the messaging app to get in touch directly with their target contacts.
X (the predecessor to Twitter) prevented users from posting "Signal.me" links via DMs, public posts, or even from their profile pages. When trying to publish a Signal link, users will receive various "message failed" prompts, depending on the version of the X platform they are using (such as XforWeb, XforiPhone, etc.).
When trying to post a link to "Signal.me" on
Another hint is "This request may have been made automatically". "To protect users from spam and other malicious activity, we are unable to complete this operation at this time. Please try again later."
When a user tried to add a "Signal.me" link in his profile, an "Account update failed. Description considered malware" message appeared.
X also prevents users from clicking on existing "Signal.me" links posted before the URL was banned.
If a user attempts to click on a "Signal.me" link that has been published on X, they will currently see a warning page from
It is unclear when X blocked the "Signal.me" link on the platform. This appears to be a recent change, however, as users were previously able to include "Signal.me" links in public posts and bios. Other Signal links, such as Signal.org, do not appear to be blocked. Only the "Signal.me" URL used to contact users directly through the app appears to be affected.
Currently only the Signal service appears to be affected. Links to other similar third-party services are allowed on X, such as URLs to contact users on Telegram.
Security researchers at Mysk first noticed the issue on Sunday night, February 16. They contacted me via DM and we confirmed the various different ways in which X blocked the "Signal.me" link (DM, post, profile bio, etc.).
Signal has been an important tool for journalists for years because it is one of the few services that is truly private. All information is end-to-end encrypted, everything is stored on the device, and nothing is saved on any Signal server in the cloud. If sources want to contact journalists and ensure their communications are as confidential as possible, Signal is often one of the preferred methods.
Needless to say, Signal has taken on added importance over the past few weeks as federal employees broke the news to reporters about Elon Musk's DOGE's efforts to obtain data from numerous government agencies.
As of press time, Signal users can still publish their Signal contact information on X and then copy and paste it into the Signal app.