Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

'Twitter Files' allege prominent right-wing figures were 'blacklisted'

'Twitter Files' allege prominent right-wing figures were 'blacklisted'

The Twitter Files, which appear to come directly from Elon Musk, feature detailed internal documents from the previous regime at Twitter, including internal messages and screenshots of administrator tools.

Twitter has been accused of secretly "blacklisting" prominent right-wing figures in the US in order to ensure they reached a smaller audience.

High-profile right-wing individuals - such as talk show host Dan Bongino, conservative activist Charlie Kirk and anti-lockdown campaigner Dr Jay Bhattacharya - were apparently demoted by Twitter staff before it was taken over by Elon Musk.

The "blacklists", which limited the visibility of accounts or prevented them from being featured in Twitter's list of trending topics, have been revealed as part of the so-called Twitter Files.

The Twitter Files, which appear to come directly from Musk, feature detailed internal documents from the previous regime at Twitter, including internal messages and screenshots of administrator tools.

They have been shared with a group of right-wing journalists who share Musk's views on free speech.

The controversial billionaire has described himself as a "free speech absolutist" fighting against a "woke mind-virus".


Elon Musk bought Twitter in October

How were right-wing figures 'blacklisted'?


The documents suggest Stanford's Dr Bhattacharya, one of a group of academics who argued 1COVID1-19 should be allowed to spread in order to develop herd immunity, was secretly placed on a "trends blacklist", which prevented his tweets from trending.

Right-wing talk show host Bongino was put on a "search blacklist," meaning his tweets would not appear in search results.

According to the report, which was published on Twitter, this practice was known internally at the company as "visibility filtering".

"Think about visibility filtering as being a way for us to suppress what people see to different levels. It's a very powerful tool," one senior Twitter employee told Bari Weiss, one of a group of journalists given wide-ranging access to Twitter's internal documentation.

Another Twitter engineer said: "We control visibility quite a bit. And we control the amplification of your content quite a bit. And normal people do not know how much we do."

Twitter had always denied secretly demoting certain accounts, a practice sometimes known as shadow banning.

In 2018, the site's head of legal policy and trust and head of product wrote a blog saying "we do not shadow ban".

"And we certainly don't shadow ban based on political viewpoints or ideology," they added.

However, the company openly acknowledged reducing the visibility of tweets in search and trending topics.

It also ranked tweets, a practice which included demoting "tweets from bad-faith actors who intend to manipulate or divide the conversation", a habit the blog implied was more common among right-wing figures.

How do other platforms operate?


The practice of "blacklisting" and "whitelisting" certain users is commonplace in social media and other internet businesses such as Google or YouTube, where they are used to make sure sites surface the most relevant content.

Indeed, Musk suggested that, under his control, Twitter would use a similar technique, promoting useful tweets and demoting "negative/hate" ones.

Yet, questions have been raised about the arbitrary way these demotions and promotions are carried out.

Just this week, the board which investigates Meta found celebrities, politicians and commercial partners were being given extra leeway to break the rules on Instagram and Facebook, a practice it described as causing "real harm".

"I hope (perhaps naively) that Musk has now set a precedent for greater transparency for future Twitter moderation and even moderation elsewhere on other platforms and news media," said Charlie Beckett, professor of media and communications at the London School of Economics.

Ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey


'Make everything public now'


However, although the Twitter Files purport to shed a light on this murky practice, they have been criticised for offering a partial, politically-motivated view of the real picture inside the company, designed to paint a favourable picture of Musk.

"If the goal is transparency to build trust, why not just release everything without filter and let people judge for themselves? Including all discussions around current and future actions? Make everything public now," former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey complained to Musk on Twitter.

Musk has promised that further revelations will be coming soon.

"Most important data was hidden (from you too) and some may have been deleted," he replied to Mr Dorsey, "but everything we find will be released".

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×