Far-right activists, including Laura Loomer, saw their engagement on X plummet after they criticized the site’s billionaire owner Elon Musk, according to The New York Times.
Critics feared that Musk, who promised to unleash free speech on the app when he bought it in 2022, would use the platform to amplify or suppress users based on his personal preferences.
Now, new analysis from TheTimes shows three users who targeted Musk in December 2024 subsequently saw a significant drop in their reach.
Loomer, a far-right influencer with close ties to President Donald Trump, has attracted more than a million followers by sharing lies, conspiracy theories, and racist posts. In December, she wrote that Musk was “exposed” over his support for certain visa programs.
Musk responded that Loomer was “looking for attention” and urged his followers to “ignore” her. Loomer’s reach on the platform dropped to lower levels for a few weeks before she saw her engagement rise again as Musk started responding to her posts. Her average daily views were over 200,000 in late December before they suddenly dropped to around 50,000 in early January. In February, they were back up to nearly 300,000 as the pair interacted more.
After her feud with Musk, she also lost access to X Premium for a short period, which may have contributed to her declining popularity on the platform. However, there was no obvious connection between the reach of her posts and her access to the program, according to The Times. Losing access to the premium program also meant losing access to the platform’s revenue-sharing program, which distributes advertising funds to premium users.
As with any social network, the algorithms X use to control a post’s distribution are not public.
Loomer told The Times that she estimates that she lost $50,000 from X during the suppression of her account.
“I think it’s wrong to say it’s a free speech platform and then shut off people’s ability to monetize,” she told the paper.
Loomer and fellow right-wing agitator Anastasia Maria Loupis, also saw her reach plummet in late December from over 200,000 average daily views to the low tens of thousands in early January amid her own feud with Musk, both slammed the billionaire over his stance on visas for skilled workers.
Loupis opened another account which, despite having a smaller number of followers compared to her original account, reaches a wider audience. In January, she said she would sue X and Musk.
“It has turned out to be all lies from him,” Loupis told The Times. “It’s disappointing because we supported him and believed in him very, very much.”
Infowars host Owen Shroyer also mocked jobs handed to visa holders and saw his reach on the platform decline, from hundreds of thousands of views in December to the low tens of thousands in early January.
“My theory is that someone is manipulating reach based off of personal, political or issue based bias,” he told The Times.
However, he didn’t directly blame Musk, saying that “some of the powers he has delegated could be being abused.”
Musk, who has described himself as a “free speech absolutist,” wrote on X that if large accounts blocked or muted others, their reach would be reduced. The tech mogul is the top user on the platform with 219 million followers, meaning he could hold significant sway in this regard. He has also indicated that he may have removed some users from the X premium program, which would limit their reach and profitability on the platform.
“People may express themselves on X as long as they do not violate our X Rules,” the X help center states. “We do not block, limit, or remove content based on an individual’s views or opinions.”
Musk wrote in November last year that “there is no shadowbanning anymore.” However, he has also said that he believes in “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach.”
“There will always be critics,” said Musk in February 2024. “What is perhaps notable is that I don’t attempt to silence them even on a platform that I own.”
