X, formerly known as Twitter, has released its first transparency report since Elon Musk took ownership of the platform. The 15-page document highlights the company’s content moderation practices and decisions made in the first half of 2024. X’s transparency report showcases its efforts to remove harmful content, suspend accounts, and comply with legal content removal requests. This comes at a critical time, as the platform faces declining advertising revenue and increased scrutiny over its handling of hate speech and offensive content.
What’s Happening & Why This Matters
Key Actions in X’s Transparency Report
The transparency report reveals a significant increase in the number of suspended accounts and removed posts. X reported that it suspended 5.3 million accounts in the first half of 2024, a sharp rise from previous years. For comparison, 1.3 million accounts were suspended in the second half of 2021, and 1.6 million were suspended in the first half of 2022. The most common reason for suspensions was the distribution of child sexual exploitation content, which accounted for 2.8 million of the total suspensions.
In addition to account suspensions, X removed 10.6 million posts, with 5 million categorized as “hateful” content. This increase in the removal of hateful content is notable, as researchers claim hate speech on the platform has surged under Musk’s leadership. Despite Musk’s public statements about reducing censorship, X appears to be leaning heavily on automated tools and human moderation to police content.
Interestingly, the report also highlights X’s compliance with legal requests to remove content. In the first half of 2024, the company complied with 71% of legal takedown requests, a significant jump from the 20% compliance rate reported in 2021. However, X’s willingness to comply with such requests hasn’t been consistent across all regions. For instance, Musk’s refusal to remove certain accounts led to X being banned in Brazil earlier this year.
Transparency, Trust, and Declining Ad Revenue
While the transparency report showcases X’s efforts to combat harmful content and boost user safety, it also comes at a time when the platform is struggling financially. According to MediaRadar data, advertisers spent approximately $744 million on X in the first half of 2024, a 24% decline from the same period in 2023. With nearly 90% of X’s revenue coming from advertising, these figures point to a major challenge for the platform.
Musk has taken an aggressive stance with advertisers, at one point telling them to “go f*** yourself” during a public exchange. However, X’s leadership is attempting to present this transparency report as evidence of the platform’s commitment to creating a safe and secure environment for users and advertisers alike. The report emphasized that “our Safety team’s extensive efforts reaffirm that X remains a safe platform for all users.”
Impact on Advertisers and Public Perception
Despite the report, the question remains whether advertisers will be convinced by X’s efforts. The platform’s association with offensive content and rising hate speech has already driven some brands to reduce or cease advertising altogether. While X hopes that the transparency report will restore confidence in the platform, the declining ad revenue shows that advertisers remain cautious.
The transparency report also revealed that user reports of abuse and harassment made up 36.5% of all complaints but accounted for only 21% of the platform’s reasons for suspending accounts. This imbalance suggests that while X is making efforts to moderate content, there may be gaps in how it addresses harassment and abuse issues that matter to users.
TF Summary: What’s Next?
X’s first transparency report under Elon Musk’s reign is working to address the platform’s content moderation practices and rebuilding trust with users and advertisers. However, with advertising revenue continuing to drop and concerns about hate speech lingering, it’s unclear whether these efforts will be enough. As X attempts to navigate financial challenges while maintaining a safer platform. X’s ability to effectively address harmful content will be critical in its long-term success.
— Text-to-Speech (TTS) provided by gspeech