X announced on Monday that it will tell users when the platform limits the visibility of their posts or accounts to comply with local laws, expanding its efforts to provide greater transparency around content restrictions.
The change builds on X’s existing Under the Hood tool, which provides users with information about labels, moderation decisions and other actions that may affect the reach of their content.
Previously, users had limited access to detailed information explaining why X, formerly Twitter, reduced the visibility of individual posts or accounts. Consequently, some users accused the platform of “shadowbanning” content without providing clear explanations.
Under the Hood Will Identify Country-Specific Restrictions
X introduced Under the Hood in August to provide more information about its moderation and ranking decisions.
Users who publish at least 10 posts during a month can access the feature through X’s settings and download aggregate account information in a JSON file.
The file will now indicate whether X restricted an account or post to comply with local laws. Furthermore, it will identify content withheld in a particular country following a legal demand and specify which country submitted the request.
Governments can seek content restrictions under laws covering areas including hate speech, terrorism-related material and election regulations. However, free-expression groups have argued that some governments also use legal restrictions against political dissent.
X Expands Access to Ranking Information
Meanwhile, X has taken other steps to disclose more information about how its platform operates.
The company has open-sourced its For You recommendation algorithm and released additional parts of its codebase.
These disclosures provide details about model configurations, filtering systems and the platform’s core ranking mechanisms, including parameters that determine how much weight X gives different signals when selecting posts for users.
X Vice President of Product Keith Coleman previously said people would be “fairly shocked” by the amount of information the company was releasing.
