Elon Musk said Twitter is working on a new software update that has a tool to let people know if they’ve been shadowbanned on the platform.
If done, the tool will also mention the reason for shadow-banning an account and let users appeal for that. This announcement comes right after the Twitter Files 2.0 release, where the report accused former Twitter executives of shadow-banning conservative personalities.
Shadow-banning on Twitter
Twitter, under Elon Musk, is slowly taking a new shape toward free speech, although the way is messy. The latest in this pursuit is a new tool to let users know if they’ve been
shadowbanned on the platform.
Twitter is working on a software update that will show your true account status, so you know clearly if you’ve been shadowbanned, the reason why and how to appeal
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
To the unknown, shadow-banning is usually limiting your posts and profile visibility to others – without your knowledge. This may harm your reach to existing and new followers, thus depriving the account.
While this new tool is in the making, Elon Musk said he’ll add it to Twitter’s new software update – which will let users know of shadow-banning, specify the reason and let them appeal. Though he didn’t explain much about how this tool would work, this came shortly after the release of Twitter Files 2.0 by Bari Weiss.
This latest dump exposes how the former Twitter employees have used “Visibility Filtering” – just a formal name for shadowban – has been used against conservative personalities on Twitter. And with Musk proclaiming himself as a free speech absolutist, he’s reversing all these actions to let free speech flow on Twitter.
Thus, a tool to fight against unfair shadowban on Twitter. Instagram has launched a similar feature recently to let users know whether they’re currently blocked from recommendations. The tool currently tells people that they’re blocked from Explore, Feed, and Reels to others, while Instagram is working on expanding this to include “suggested accounts.”
