X is testing transparency tools designed to show whether its ranking systems have limited the visibility of users’ posts or affected their accounts. The company is pairing the test with a release of additional open-source code used in its ranking systems.
The features address allegations of shadowbanning, a term users use when they believe a platform has reduced the reach of their content without clearly telling them. X says the tools are intended to show whether posts have received that kind of ranking treatment, though it has not explained how it will define or measure shadowbanning.
X will disclose more of its For You feed code
The code release includes systems used by X’s For You feed, which selects and orders content through ranking systems. X has not said how much additional code it will publish or identified the specific parts of the feed-ranking process covered by the release.
Publishing more of that code could give outside developers and researchers a clearer view of how X structures some of the systems that determine what appears in the feed. The disclosure does not, on its own, explain every decision that affects distribution, especially if the release covers only part of the ranking stack.
The tools target account-level and post-level effects
X is introducing separate transparency tools for account-level ranking effects and post-level ranking effects. Account-level information could indicate when a ranking system affects an account more broadly, while post-level information would focus on an individual piece of content.
The distinction matters because the For You feed plays a central role in how X distributes posts. When ranking systems select and order content, their decisions can affect whether a post reaches people beyond an account’s existing audience. User-facing notices could make those effects easier to identify than they are today.
X has not provided a rollout schedule or said which countries will receive the test. It also remains unclear whether the tools will cover every ranking intervention or only selected cases, leaving their practical scope uncertain until the company provides further details.
