In recent days, a new issue has emerged on X, with many users finding that images and links in tweets posted before 2014 are not loading properly. Under normal circumstances, images uploaded to X are stored on X’s own servers, and links are converted to t.co for preview by X’s servers. If no image is inserted in a tweet, then a preview card for the link appears.
While the inability to preview links is not a major concern, as users can still click on the links to access the corresponding websites, the failure to load images is far more problematic, given that many tweets contain images.
The issue almost certainly resides with X’s servers, as some images sometimes fail to load but then reappear later. This at least indicates that the image data has not been lost.
The exact cause of the problem is still unknown, and X’s team has not commented on the matter. However, speculation points to a possible issue with Google Cloud. X relies on Google Cloud for its infrastructure. There have been previous incidents, such as Elon Musk refusing to pay a Google Cloud bill, but Google Cloud itself should not be the problem. It seems unlikely that a financial dispute between Google and X would lead to server reduction, causing certain images not to load properly.