Is Twitter (X) limiting visibility for profiles that criticize Elon Musk? That’s what a new investigation suggests

Billionaire Elon Musk bought Twitter, which he renamed X, in November 2022 vowing to make the social media platform a safe haven for free speech. However, a little over two years on, the fears his critics expressed that under his control he might amplify or suppress certain voices may have been confirmed according to a recent analysis by The New York Times.

The outlet says that after reviewing data on the views received by the X accounts of three people who feuded with Elon Musk in December that it found “the starkest signs yet” that either Musk or others at the company have in their hands, and are willing to use it, the power to penalize critics.

Far-right activists punished for criticizing Musk

The three users in question, Anastasia Maria Loupis, Laura Loomer, and Owen Shroyer, are all far-right activists who prior to their spats on X with Elon Musk regularly received hundreds of thousands of views of their posts on the platform. However, after criticizing the billionaire about his position on work visas for skilled workers, something Musk supports but many in the Trump-verse want to do away with, their traffic dropped to a trickle.

Only Loomer has seen views of her posts rebound in the months since, once Musk started interacting with her posts once again. Loupis for her part set up a second account to bypass the alleged suppression which is receiving more traffic than her original one despite having a fraction of the original’s more than one million followers.

The Times also looked at data from dozens of other users’ accounts who said their accounts were being suppress for criticizing Musk but could not find clear evidence to verify the claims.

How are X accounts being suppressed?

That’s hard to say. Like any social network the algorithms that X has in place to control distribution of posts are closely guarded and impossible to scrutinize by outsiders notes The Times. For its part, X has said about its own moderation policies that the company has several tools to limit visibility of posts or users. However, it states: “We do not block, limit, or remove content based on an individual’s views or opinions.”

Some hints as to what could have caused the steep decline in views of accounts comes from posts of the tech billionaire owner of X himself. During the feud he warned that if an account was blocked or muted by another powerful account, that would severely limit the impacted account. Musk has the most powerful account on the social media platform with 219 million followers The Times points out.

Furthermore, accounts that lose access to X Premium, a fee-based program that boosts visibility and allows users to monetize their account, could also significantly reduce their reach. Musk suggested that he may have booted some users from the program. This happened to both Loomer and Shroyer briefly during the kerfuffle.

“I think it’s wrong to say it’s a free speech platform and then shut off people’s ability to monetize,” said Loomer.

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