Advantages for Musk?

MEPs call for investigation into X algorithms

Elon Musk's contributions to X have been more visible since he became its leader. MEPs now want to know: Did he change the algorithms?

(Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Apu Gomes)

MEPs are calling on the European Commission to investigate the visibility of posts on the X platform. Specifically, the question is whether platform owner Elon Musk is helping his own posts to achieve greater reach in violation of EU law.

The background to the inquiry is a study by the Australian University of Queensland, which examined the visibility of Musk's posts over the past few months.

The algorithm has changed
The results of the study - as reported by krone.at - suggest that the algorithm has recently changed in favor of Musk's own posts. This includes the calculations that determine where and how a post is displayed on the platform. Since Musk announced his support for Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump in July, the views of his posts have increased massively, the researchers report.

Although the posts of other prominent political accounts were also viewed more frequently during the election campaign, the number of views for Musk's posts increased significantly more. The results indicate that specific visibility advantages may have been selectively applied on the platform, the authors write in the study, which has not yet been independently peer-reviewed.

Impact on public safety?
The MEPs' written question to the European Commission states: "The increase in views also concerns Musk's posts on EU and member state issues on X, such as pro-Kremlin propaganda on the war in Ukraine and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories". The algorithmic shift appears to have a clear impact on civil society discourse and electoral processes as well as public safety in the EU. The EU Commission should investigate and assess this risk in accordance with the Digital Services Act (DSA). The Commission has yet to respond.

The question from the EU Parliament was signed by 42 MEPs. They come from the ranks of the Greens, the Social Democrats, the Left, the Liberals and the center-right EPP group.