For a while now, researchers have been trying to prove that X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) has an algorithmic bias for conservative conten

Researchers Claim to Pinpoint Exact Date When Elon’s X Started Boosting the Right

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2024-11-21 21:30:18

For a while now, researchers have been trying to prove that X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) has an algorithmic bias for conservative content. Indeed, ever since Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022, right-wing accounts have flourished on the site—so much so that onlookers suspect those accounts are being actively promoted. A pair of researchers now claim to have collected evidence that the site is putting its thumb on the scale. They also say that promotion likely began on a very specific date: the day a would-be assassin took a shot at Donald Trump during a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

In a working paper entitled “A computational analysis of potential algorithmic bias on platform X during the 2024 US election,” researchers with the Queensland University of Technology in Australia claim to have found evidence of a “structural engagement shift” on the platform, the likes of which favored certain rightwing accounts. The shift took place around mid-July 2024, and suggests “platform-level changes that influenced engagement metrics,” the report says. “The date at which the structural break (spike) in engagement occurs coincides with Elon Musk’s formal endorsement of Donald Trump on 13th July 2024.”

If you’ll recall, Musk’s endorsement of Trump came on the very same day that Trump was shot at by a gunman. In a post on X, shared in the aftermath of the assassination attempt, Musk said: “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.” It is on that day that X began to surge rightward, the study claims.