X, formerly known as Twitter, has published its initial transparency report on Wednesday since Elon Musk took over the company.
What Happened: The report highlights content moderation actions taken in the first half of the year. X suspended nearly 5.3 million accounts.
Additionally, the platform removed or labeled over 10.6 million posts for rule violations, with around 5 million posts flagged for “hateful conduct.” Other categories included “violent content” (2.2 million) and “abuse and harassment” (2.6 million.)
In contrast, an April 2023 blog post indicated that 6.5 million pieces of content were required to be removed in the first half of 2022. This was a 29% increase from the second half of 2021.
To enforce its policies, X employs both machine learning and human review. Automated systems either take action directly or escalate content to human moderators. The company stated that posts violating its policies accounted for less than 1% of all content on the platform.
Since acquiring X in October 2022, Musk has made significant changes, including staff reductions, which have led to a steady departure of celebrities, public figures, and ordinary users from the platform.
Why It Matters: The release of this transparency report comes amid a turbulent period for X.
The platform has been experiencing a significant decline in active users, particularly in the UK, where daily active users dropped from 8 million to about 5.6 million over the past year. This decline accelerated after Musk posted controversial statements like “civil war is inevitable” during summer riots.
Additionally, X is facing a major advertiser exodus. Research by Kantar indicates a 26% decline in ad spending on the platform for 2025, marking the largest withdrawal from any major global advertising platform. Marketers’ trust in X has dropped significantly since Musk’s acquisition.
Despite these challenges, some industry analysts see potential in Musk’s updates to the platform. Pierre Ferragu, an analyst at New Street Research, praised a recent feature allowing users to add Community Notes to links, calling it revolutionary and likening it to “Wikipedia to the power of infinity.”
However, criticism persists. Meta Platforms Inc.'s president for global affairs, Nick Clegg, criticized X as a “tiny” platform that allows “anyone to say anything,” highlighting concerns about unregulated content and the presence of individuals banned from other platforms.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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