Researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Monash University reported that Elon Musk’s platform X has tweaked its algorithm to inflate his posts along with other conservative users. According to their research, the engagement on his account has gone through the roof and was reported around July when Musk endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
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The report stated that posts from Musk himself saw 138% growth in views and 238% growth in retweets compared with previous periods starting July 13, more so than the general trend on the platform. Other Republican-leaning accounts looked at in the study also spiked, though not as sharply as Musk during that time period.
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These results resonate with earlier claims by *The Wall Street Journal* and *The Washington Post*, which may have also biased X’s algorithms to the right. On the other hand, it was difficult to collect data because the X Academic API only made a limited number of data available. No loss of data was detected, but completeness could not be verified.
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The study throws light on the way algorithmic changes could enforce influence on online visibility, thus furthering some political ideologies and critically making social media platforms host questionable displays of transparency and fairness.
