How was it discovered?

First of all, it is worth noting that all data is based on observations. Channel 24, citing a paper by the Queensland University of Technology, reported that the authors apparently do not have any specific lines of code to confirm this theory.

University of Queensland digital media researcher Timothy Graham and Monash University communications and media studies professor Mark Andreevich say Musk may have tweaked his algorithm to increase the popularity of his account and other conservative users. It starts around the time Donald Trump announced his support for the presidential campaign.

The authors showed that Musk’s posts, which already received a lot of views and likes, suddenly became much more popular. They analyzed the billionaire’s activities before and after he endorsed Trump in July. The results clearly show that, starting around July 13, Musk’s posts received 138% more views and 238% more retweets than before that date.

The moment of algorithm change was recorded in the popularity chart of the Mask page / Queensland University of Technology Photo

They concluded that Musk’s performance was “ahead of overall engagement trends seen on the platform.” Other Republicans’ accounts similarly examined experienced the same growth starting in July, although to a lesser extent.

This is not the only study of this kind

Interestingly, these results are similar to other recent findings by The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post about the potential bias of X algorithms towards right-wing forces. The publications wrote that almost all “megaviral” tweets came from Republicans. Party members also built a following faster, had more opinions, and made recommendations more often than their Democratic rivals.

But the researchers say they are limited by the “relatively small amount of data” they can collect because the platform shut down access to the API long ago.

So all this could amount to direct interference in the US elections, which Musk, Trump and many other Republicans are actively shouting about. For example, the president-elect had previously announced that anyone who tried to manipulate the results, referring to Kamala Garis, would be held immediately accountable.