Home / Technology / X Reveals Secret 'Shadowbans' to Users
X Reveals Secret 'Shadowbans' to Users
21 Sep
Summary
- New feature informs users about posts shown to fewer people.
- Visibility limits are due to compliance with local laws.
- Users can now see specific posts withheld in countries.
X has introduced a new feature to notify users about "shadowbans," where posts are shown to a limited audience due to legal compliance. This update expands the existing "Under the Hood" transparency tool, which previously allowed users to see account labels affecting visibility. The new functionality will also highlight when posts are downranked because of government-mandated content filtering.
This development offers more granular information than typical aggregate transparency reports. Users can now access specific details about which posts were withheld in a country due to legal demands and identify the requesting nation. This move follows other recent transparency efforts by X, including open-sourcing its "For You" algorithm and parts of its codebase.
