diff --git a/scripts/core/editor3/components/links/LinkInput.tsx b/scripts/core/editor3/components/links/LinkInput.tsx
index db917d6477..f0dd79bda3 100644
--- a/scripts/core/editor3/components/links/LinkInput.tsx
+++ b/scripts/core/editor3/components/links/LinkInput.tsx
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {applyLink, hidePopups, createLinkSuggestion, changeLinkSuggestion} from
 import {connectPromiseResults} from 'core/helpers/ReactRenderAsync';
 import ng from 'core/services/ng';
 import {gettext} from 'core/utils';
+import {appConfig} from 'appConfig';
 
 /**
  * @ngdoc React
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ export class LinkInputComponent extends React.Component<any, any> {
             const isLocalDomain = (localDomains || []).some((item) => url.includes(item.domain));
 
             link = {href: url};
-            if (!isLocalDomain && localDomains != null) {
+            if ((appConfig.linksBlankTarget === true) || (!isLocalDomain && localDomains != null)) {
                 link.target = '_blank';
             }
         } else if (linkType === linkTypes.attachement) {
diff --git a/scripts/core/superdesk-api.d.ts b/scripts/core/superdesk-api.d.ts
index 49dd783052..fc15a42dbe 100644
--- a/scripts/core/superdesk-api.d.ts
+++ b/scripts/core/superdesk-api.d.ts
@@ -1963,6 +1963,9 @@ declare module 'superdesk-api' {
         oidc_auth: any;
         keycloak_config: any;
 
+        /** Allow default target for links to be _blank. */
+        linksBlankTarget?: boolean;
+
         /**
          * Enable autocomplete for supported text fields in authoring.
          * Values of published items are used for autocomplete suggestions.