X has shared its second Transparency Report, displaying all the enforcement actions that it took within the second half of final 12 months, based mostly on rule violations, authorities requests, and extra.
And whereas X has claimed important progress in combating spam (X says that there was a 19% decline in spam experiences versus H1), there are another fascinating factors of notice throughout the particulars.
First off, X has offered an outline of the full enforcement actions that it took based mostly on detected rule violations between July to December 2024.
There are some fascinating anomalies right here, compared towards X’s final transparency replace, which lined the primary half of 2024.
For instance, X eliminated 1.16m fewer posts resulting from “Abuse and Harassment” within the second half of the 12 months (-43% versus final report), but there have been solely 164k fewer account suspensions in the identical time-frame (-15%).
That looks as if a shift in strategy, with X probably giving extra leeway to such experiences, whereas there’s additionally been an enormous drop off in posts eliminated resulting from “Youngster Sexual Exploitation” (a decline of 80%) versus a a lot smaller decline in accounts suspended for a similar (-35%).
Youngster security has been a serious focus for Musk and Co., and was one of many large factors of notice that Elon made when he took over on the app. Such a giant decline in removals both means that accounts are posting any such content material much less ceaselessly, or that X’s earlier efforts to fight such have had an impact. Or X isn’t doing as a lot to take away it because it had been.
Both approach, it’s also value noting that X is suspending way more accounts on this entrance than Twitter had been.
Again in 2022, in Twitter’s remaining transparency replace earlier than Elon bought the app, it reported that it had suspended 696k profiles in H1 for “Youngster Sexual Exploitation”. Regardless of the decline in suspensions this era, X continues to be working at effectively over double that charge.
Additionally value noting given the broader narrative across the app: X suspended 2.3k profiles for “Hateful conduct” in H2 2024. In 2022, it reported that it had suspended 111k profiles for a similar.
So on this entrance, X is suspending far fewer accounts than Twitter had been, although X had famous this is able to be a spotlight underneath its “freedom of speech, not attain” strategy.
By way of authorized requests, X acquired 97,000 authorized motion requests within the first half of the 12 months, and complied with 82% of them.
Which is the next charge of compliance that the X’s final report (70%), and rather a lot increased than Twitter had been actioning (54% as of its H1 2021 report).
So whereas X has taken a stand on some authorized requests, most notably in response to Brazilian courtroom orders (which ultimately noticed the platform briefly suspended within the nation), and a removing order from Australian authorities, it’s actioning much more of those total.
And the highest nations requesting such are not any shock: Turkey, Japan, South Korea, EU.
Turkey, South Korea and India have lengthy been among the many most lively requestors of such removals, whereas these similar 4 nations had been the main submitters in X’s final report.
There are some questions right here round Elon Musk’s personal enterprise dealings, and his private relationships with every nation, and the way that seemingly pertains to X’s willingness to motion such. However the numbers additionally present that, regardless of Musk’s public claims of broader freedom of speech, X is definitely eradicating much more content material based mostly on authorities requests than Twitter was, whereas total, it’s additionally suspending much more customers.
The reasoning could also be totally different, with fewer customers being booted for, say, hate speech. However total, X has truly been way more restrictive in its strategy, based mostly by itself reported figures.
As you’ll be able to see on this comparability, X is definitely suspending extra accounts in each class besides hate speech, regardless of having basically the identical quantity of lively customers. So even with its attain penalties versus account restrictions strategy in place, it’s nonetheless punishing much more profiles with suspension.
Is that resulting from higher enforcement total, or extra selective punishments in sure areas? If these figures are right, it does present that X is probably going taking extra motion than many would understand, which does present that it’s severe about model and person security. It’s simply not seemingly as lively in sure areas.
Properly, one.
Although, actually, X can’t win both approach. If it’s suspending extra customers, then its a lot lauded “free speech” strategy comes into query, whereas if it doesn’t droop sufficient, then it’s seen as letting an excessive amount of by means of underneath its revised content material technique.
General, I’d say that this information displays precisely what you’d anticipate, that X is taking extra motion the place it chooses, and regardless of its claims of respecting freedom of speech, it’s nonetheless going through challenges to find the suitable stability.
Identical to each different app.
You’ll be able to try X’s newest Transparency Report right here.
