The algorithm for the X social media platform is still prone to stifle posts by right-leaning media outlets while promoting those of liberal media outlets, even after nearly two years of ownership under Elon Musk, a report released Friday showed.
The report by the Media Research Center, an advocate against online censorship and Big Tech interference in elections, showed that 100% of left-leaning media outlets are assigned favorable “reputation” scores by X’s employees, meaning the official pages of those outlets enjoy far broader reach.
The group said its report was based on answers and data provided to it by Grok, the Musk-owned xAI chatbot. The reputation scores range from 0 to 100 and weigh heavily in the algorithm’s calculation for which accounts to recommend to others, according to Grok’s answers to the MRC.
The group said the results are consistent with its previous studies showing how X favors Democrats in Congress over their Republican counterparts and how the platform also favors Vice President Kamala Harris over Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee.
Although 100% of left-leaning media outlets were boosted by the algorithm, 17 of the 23 (74%) right-leaning media outlets reviewed by the MRC were deboosted.
“We have seen over and over that there remains a radical remnant within X fighting against Elon Musk,” said MRC Vice President Dan Schneider. “This latest report is shocking. It shows that X’s radicals treat right-leaning news outlets even worse than NewsGuard does.”
The MRC said it used a media bias chart by ratings firm AllSides that classifies media outlets on their perceived bias on a left-to-right scale. The evidence showed that X gave left-leaning media outlets an average and favorable visibility score of 82.64 out of 100. But right-leaning outlets had an average score of 63.56.
After Musk completed his purchase of X in October 2022 for $44 billion, he promised to elevate free speech as a cornerstone of the platform, especially after claims the platform worked with the government to censor information before the 2020 election. But the MRC said several of its studies, most recently on X’s algorithms, “suggest that there is a remnant of [former CEO] Jack Dorsey-era employees at X working tooth and nail to undermine free speech and maintain the censorship apparatus.”
“@elonmusk has been excellent at fixing problems that remain in Jack Dorsey's original code,” Schneider posted on X. “We hope he will fix this bias against conservatives and Republicans soon.”
Newsmax reached out to Musk for comment.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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