X Exposes Government Ordered Shadowbans With Under the Hood
X expands Under the Hood to reveal when local laws force post downranking, country-specific withholding, and other government visibility limits for users.
Summary
Following a September 19 post from X Open Source, X announced on Monday, September 21, 2026, that its Under the Hood transparency tool now tells users when compliance with local law has reduced an account's or post's reach. It identifies government-required downranking, names posts withheld in a country after a legal demand, and identifies the requesting country. X, formerly Twitter, first rolled out Under the Hood in August. Anyone posting at least 10 times in a month can download a JSON file containing aggregate statistics and labels applied to their account and posts during the prior month. Nontechnical users can submit the file to an AI chatbot for explanation.
Users previously could not inspect labels or downranking, fueling shadowban accusations. Most companies disclose government requests only as totals in transparency reports, not per account or post. Governments invoke hate speech, terrorism, and election laws, while free-expression groups warn such rules can suppress political dissent. X has separately open sourced its For You main-feed algorithm and expanded code disclosures covering model configuration, filtering, core ranking, and parameters weighting signals that determine displayed posts. Vice president of product Keith Coleman said people would likely be shocked X released that detail.
Positives
- Under the Hood now identifies government-required downranking at the account and post level.
- Country-specific disclosures identify withheld posts and the government that issued each legal demand.
- Users posting at least 10 times monthly can download prior-month labels and aggregate visibility statistics.
- X has published For You algorithm details, including model configuration, filtering, ranking, and signal weights.
Risks & concerns
- Governments can compel X to downrank accounts or withhold posts under local laws.
- Free-expression groups warn hate speech, terrorism, and election rules can be used to suppress political dissent.
- Users posting fewer than 10 times during a month do not qualify to download Under the Hood statistics.
- The disclosure comes as a JSON file, so nontechnical users may need an AI chatbot to interpret it.