X‘s Transparency Report is back.
For the first time since 2021, the platform formerly known as Twitter has provided an official update regarding its content moderation efforts. During the first half of 2024, X removed more than 10.6 million posts due to various rules violations.
Those 10.6 million removals stemmed from more than 224 million incidents reported by X’s users. Elon Musk‘s moderation team also suspended 5.2 million accounts during the same time frame.
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36% of those 224 million incidents related to abuse and harassment. Another 29% related to hateful content, with violent content claiming another 17% of the pie. Other rule-breaking behaviors cited in the report include the illicit publication of private content and cases of identity theft.
X’s introduction to the revived Transparency Report acknowledges that the company needs to be more forthcoming about its moderation if it’s going to appease the advertisers who are ready to revolt against it. The chaotic first year of Musk’s X ownership prompted an advertiser exodus, and though X has made overtures to agencies and brands since then, there are still a lot of firms that are looking to cut spending on the platform.
The Transparency Report will offer some reassurances to advertisers who are concerned about X’s uneven content moderation. One of Musk’s first steps as Chief Twit was to axe outsourced moderators who tracked abuse on X. Though X has pledged to expand moderator numbers with a new unit in Austin, its numbers still lag behind its competitors.
But X believes the moderators it does have are answering the platform’s violative content. “It is now more important than ever that we shine a light on our own practices, including enforcement of the X Rules and our ongoing work to disrupt global state-backed information operations,” reads the intro to the report. “The public and policy makers want to be better informed about our actions and we recognize these calls for greater transparency.”
Ultimately, X claims that violative content makes up a very small percentage of tweets. The Transparency Report states that there were 0.0123% as many violative posts as suitable ones. If that number is accurate, it would make X a safe place to browse, though Digiday noted that X’s sometimes loose relationship with truth may make it hard for advertisers to accept the reported figure. Like so many of Elon Musk’s claims, this one should be taken with a grain of salt.
