It’s a matter that seems to never come to an end and now users of Elon Musk’s X app are losing patience in regards to the platform’s constant shadowbanning.
For those who might not be aware, this term is reserved for limiting post visibility by showing a label that’s said to be temporary for accounts. In this manner, the reach for the content is limited and there is yet to be any sort of clarity over why the ban was in place to begin with.
When you run searches across the X app, phrases such as temporary labels pop up on several occasions where users complain that their content is flagged on the app.
So, it seems X has placed a temporary label on my account which may impact my reach. ( I’m not sure how. I don’t have much reach.) Not sure why. I post everything I post by hand. I don’t sell anything spam anyone or post questionable content. Wonder what I did.
— Tidi Grey (@bgarmani) March 14, 2024
The notification is automated and this means the reach could get impacted. So many users express massive confusion in terms of how they were punished and were never even provided with any justification for why this happened in the first place.
oh i get the one where my notifications are timed out too lmao
did you ever find out what you did to receive a temporary label? i hate that they don’t say which tweets breaks guidelines or whatever
— Jesabel (@JesabelRaay) March 18, 2024
Complaints popping out on this front proved how users were just left in the dark about the matter and why their content got restricted in the first instance. There was a vague message where X mentioned how accounts entailed spam or engaged in other kinds of manipulation.
There were so many notices about X not giving out a specific reason and when the ban would be lifted so as one can imagine, people are getting tired of the repetitive behavior and therefore demand a solution or else they’re leaving. And the last thing that Musk or anyone would need on this front is something like this.
Image: @SwaraMSDian / X
Nobody wants to publish content whose visibility goes down to such a low level.
Uh, I just woke up to a temporary label on my account? I’m confused since I didn’t break any rules. pic.twitter.com/7wNMIcrNYG
— Goten 📈 (@GotenVision) March 18, 2024
Temporary or not, users are flustered and don’t know what to do next and neither is the customer support team helping in this regard either.
People say it is a glitch because no real justification exists here as to what’s going on and why.
Seeing so many such complaints take center stage across the results for the search page means saying hello to something that needs to be addressed before it’s too late. Shadowbanning can include a wide array of actions. There are all sorts of posts being downranked and hidden. So yes, we feel this term is very fuzzy to start with.
Musk says it might have to do with freedom of speech but no matter how much justification he makes, the matter remains to cause concern.
The fact that there are public posts on the app speaking about confusion in terms of an account getting flagged means he has failed to solve issues that sanction the user’s overall reach. And that’s never appreciated. The transparency needs to be there regarding content decisions or else where will the accountability come from, right?
So you cannot state that your platform supports freedom of speech when you fail to claim the basis on which censorship is arising on X.
Just last year in August, Musk vowed to address the matter in detail and find a proper solution before it was too late. He also spoke in great detail about how hard it was to combat the many security layers the app’s software had to ensure privacy and user safety were at the topmost priority.
Despite all of this, X users are still in the same place as when they started with no end to the problem. Shadowbanning is still alive and kicking and seeing users’ replies, content, and comments get hidden would never be appreciated.
X hopes to help users soon but when that will happen remains a mystery because no solution is in sight.
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