Elon Musk Announces Massive Change Coming to Twitter After Release of Second 'Twitter Files' Bomb
Twitter owner Elon Musk is promising to institute transparency reforms after the latest release of “Twitter Files” that implicate the platform in “shadowbanning” its conservative users.
The files implicated Twitter in the sophisticated suppression of content from users deemed politically problematic by the platform’s censors.
Musk is pledging to release a platform feature that will allow Twitter users to see whether they’re shadowbanned on the service in light of the files, the latest of which were published by journalist Bari Weiss on Thursday.
Twitter is working on a software update that will show your true account status, so you know clearly if you’ve been shadowbanned, the reason why and how to appeal
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
Photo evidence of internal Twitter software reveals that conservative influencers such as Charlie Kirk and Dan Bongino were slapped with platform tools designed to prevent their content from spreading.
Kirk was capped with a “Do Not Amplify” tool by Twitter, and Bongino’s account was hit with a “search blacklist.”
5. Twitter set the account of conservative activist Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) to “Do Not Amplify.” pic.twitter.com/dOyQIVdsW2
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 9, 2022
Twitter censorship tools were so invasive as to allow employees to view a user’s direct messages.
So, Twitter is reading Direct Messages. pic.twitter.com/FCzMZeMeqv
— Louis Marinelli (@LouisJMarinelli) December 9, 2022
Executives of Twitter had previously denied that the platform implemented shadowbans on users, including as a result of their political orientation.
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey claimed that the platform did not “shadowban anyone based on political ideology” in testimony to Congress in 2018.
Then-CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey testifying before Congress in 2018: “Let me be clear about one important and foundational fact: Twitter does not use political ideology to make any decisions. … We do not shadowban anyone based on political ideology.”https://t.co/S8ZAGdu2GQ https://t.co/4VPRiI0UTC pic.twitter.com/odwevq8ZeR
— Ajit Pai (@AjitPai) December 9, 2022
Musk indicated that the company’s representatives had lied about their use of shadowbanning in a tweet following the release of Thursday night’s Twitter Files.
Exactly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
Twitter operatives redefined the shadowbanning tactics as “visibility filtering,” according to Weiss.
Musk’s tweet regarding the planned transparency software appears to indicate that the shadowbanning technology remains in use on the platform.
It’s unclear when the tool to verify a Twitter user’s shadowban status will be made available.
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