Twitter appears to have relaxed the effects of its “quality” search filter function associated with so-called “shadow banning,” after evidence indicated that the content of some accounts on the social media platform was obscured to followers, while many others appeared to be unaffected.
The Epoch Times discovered the change in the filter functionality while researching the shadow banning phenomenon. Some search results changed overnight on July 28 after The Epoch Times alerted Twitter to some of its findings.
For several years, Twitter users have accused the company of shadow banning—hiding a user’s content from other users without informing them.
While the full extent and history of the practice remain unclear, one identified method was to remove the tweets of targeted accounts from search results, unless a user turned off the “quality” filter function, found in the “search filters” box. The filter is on by default and snaps back on after just one search.
Users who hold conservative and libertarian political views have been accusing Twitter for years of handicapping their accounts.
Since January, such complaints have been substantiated by multiple experiments, as well as current and former Twitter employees’ acknowledgments to undercover investigators.
They denied shadow banning users, arguing it’s only shadow banning if the user content is made “undiscoverable.” They did say that tweets and search results are ranked, making some content harder to find.
That explanation has been rejected by many of the users affected by the practice.
“A rose, by any other name, is still a rose,” said an independent investigator, whose account had been effectively shadow banned. As a conservative, he wishes to remain anonymous because of safety concerns.
Aside from the exclusion from search results, he’s noticed other effects, which, he says, could be more accurately described as account throttling.
“Your tweets may not show up on other followers’ accounts, they may not see your replies, and your tweet responses will end up behind a wall that non-followers will have to check to see your tweet,” he said, adding that he and others have confirmed these effects by running tests through alternative accounts.
Gadde and Beykpour wrote that tweets and search results are “ranked lower” if posted by “bad-faith actors who intend to manipulate or divide the conversation.”
“Bad-faith actors” are identified by whether they lack a confirmed email address, by how recently their accounts were created, and whether they uploaded a profile image.
Gadde and Beykpour said that Twitter also determines “bad faith” by “actions you take on Twitter,” such as who one follows or retweets, and even by factors beyond one’s control, such as “who mutes you, who follows you, who retweets you, who blocks you.”
That’s why, they said, several prominent Republican congressmen had their Twitter accounts recently scrapped from the platform’s search suggestion function.
“There are communities that try to boost each other’s presence on the platform through coordinated engagement. We believe these types of actors engaged with the representatives’ accounts,” Gadde and Beykpour wrote, also saying that “as of yesterday afternoon, this issue was resolved.”
Gaetz is convinced Twitter targeted him intentionally.
Gaetz said he filed a complaint to the FEC, accusing Twitter of an illegal campaign contribution to his opponents.
“Here, the corporate donation is allowing Democrats, and the people running against me specifically, to have access to elements of the search feature that I didn’t have access to,” he said.
The Epoch Times reviewed more than 50 accounts identified by hashtags commonly associated with Trump supporters (such as #MAGA) and Trump opponents (such as #TheResistance). Many of the accounts on both sides were prolifically cross-promoting their tweets, garnering thousands or even tens of thousands of followers.
Almost all accounts of the Trump supporters were targeted by the “quality” filter.
Twitter didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Moreover, the July post only acknowledged that Twitter does “rank” tweets and search results, omitting the fact that the filter does hide content altogether.
Many of the Trump supporters posted comments, links, and memes expressing faith in God, love for America, support for Trump, and criticism (at times speculative) of prominent Democrats such as Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Even Scott Presler, the vice chairman of the Virginia Beach Young Republicans who’s known for his upbeat attitude, has been shadow banned, despite having a verified account with almost a quarter-million followers.
He used the popular recurring hashtag #WednesdayWisdom, but nobody clicking the hashtag and browsing the latest results on the default settings would see his tweet.
Many of the Trump opponents posted comments, links, and memes in support of Democrats and progressive policies and criticizing (at times, speculatively) Trump. Some of them regularly used foul or abusive language, without any apparent effects.
“You look for Trump, or America, or any of 5,000 keywords to describe a ‘redneck’,” he said.
Twitter responded to the Project Veritas report by saying it was “committed to enforcing our rules without bias and empowering every voice on our platform, in accordance with the Twitter Rules.”
If Gaetz’s complaint to the FEC succeeds, it could open the floodgates to others.
Gaetz said Twitter and other social media companies have successfully averted lawsuits by declaring themselves neutral public forums that can’t be held responsible for what people post.
“Twitter … can’t say on one hand, ‘We’re neutral and thus we shouldn’t have to respond to lawsuits,’ and then, on the other hand, tell me and other outspoken conservatives that our behavior results in suppression on their platform,’” he said. “They can’t have it both ways.”
