Something happened when Elon Musk took over Twitter and renamed it X.

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His supporters would have you believe it was a prioritising of ‘freedom of speech’. He reinstated previously banned accounts like those of anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson and alt-right commentator Katie Hopkins. He called X a ‘global marketplace of ideas’ where everyone, regardless of how extreme their views are considered, should be able to have their say.

As a subsequent investigation by Sky News (with oversight from numerous respected academics at Stanford University, the Oxford Internet Institute and the Centre for Countering Digital Hate) revealed, however, there was something altogether more sinister going on. X’s algorithm had, it appeared, been tweaked to boost far-right viewpoints. Regardless of a user’s political loyalties or the content they actively seek out, far-right content will disproportionately appear in their feeds. Since engagement can be monetised, this incentivises X users to post extreme views on topics like immigration and LGBTQ rights. Analysis by PoliticsHome found that Rupert Lowe, leader of the hard-right party ‘Restore Britain’, is making tens of thousands of pounds a year from the traction his posts on X........

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