diff --git a/lib/pleroma/web/metadata/utils.ex b/lib/pleroma/web/metadata/utils.ex
index 3c0dfb6ad..a519fbf01 100644
--- a/lib/pleroma/web/metadata/utils.ex
+++ b/lib/pleroma/web/metadata/utils.ex
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Web.Metadata.Utils do
   alias Pleroma.Activity
   alias Pleroma.Emoji
   alias Pleroma.Formatter
+  alias Pleroma.HTML
 
   def scrub_html_and_truncate(%{data: %{"content" => content}} = object) do
     content
@@ -21,8 +22,9 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Web.Metadata.Utils do
   def scrub_html_and_truncate(content, max_length \\ 200) when is_binary(content) do
     content
     |> Emoji.Formatter.demojify()
+    |> HTML.filter_tags(Pleroma.HTML.Scrubber.BreaksOnly)
     |> HtmlEntities.decode()
-    |> String.replace(~r/<br\s?\/?>/, " ")
+    |> String.replace(~r/<br\s?\/?>/, "&#10;&#13;")
     |> Formatter.truncate(max_length)
   end
 
diff --git a/priv/scrubbers/breaks_only.ex b/priv/scrubbers/breaks_only.ex
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f952c7224
--- /dev/null
+++ b/priv/scrubbers/breaks_only.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+defmodule Pleroma.HTML.Scrubber.BreaksOnly do
+  @moduledoc """
+  An HTML scrubbing policy which limits to linebreaks only.
+  """
+
+  require FastSanitize.Sanitizer.Meta
+  alias FastSanitize.Sanitizer.Meta
+
+  Meta.strip_comments()
+
+  # linebreaks only
+  Meta.allow_tag_with_these_attributes(:br, [])
+
+  Meta.strip_everything_not_covered()
+end
diff --git a/test/pleroma/web/metadata/utils_test.exs b/test/pleroma/web/metadata/utils_test.exs
index 8cdfb8ecc..b5d3e3566 100644
--- a/test/pleroma/web/metadata/utils_test.exs
+++ b/test/pleroma/web/metadata/utils_test.exs
@@ -30,5 +30,21 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Web.Metadata.UtilsTest do
     test "it truncates to specified chars (binaries)" do
       assert Utils.scrub_html_and_truncate("Pleroma's really cool!", 10) == "Pleroma..."
     end
+
+    # push notifications and link previews should be able to display newlines
+    test "it replaces <br> with compatible HTML entity (binaries)" do
+      assert Utils.scrub_html_and_truncate("First line<br>Second line") ==
+               "First line&#10;&#13;Second line"
+    end
+
+    test "it strips emojis (binaries)" do
+      assert Utils.scrub_html_and_truncate(
+               "Open the door get on the floor everybody walk the dinosaur :dinosaur:"
+             ) == "Open the door get on the floor everybody walk the dinosaur"
+    end
+
+    test "it strips HTML tags and other entities (binaries)" do
+      assert Utils.scrub_html_and_truncate("<title>my title</title> <p>and a paragraph&#33;</p>") == "my title and a paragraph!"
+    end
   end
 end