X Announces New Bot and Spam Account Removal Effort

Published by Deep Shikha on Apr 9, 2024

Fact-checked by Kate Richards • Fact-checked by Kate Richards

Elon Musk and X, previously Twitter, announced on April 4 that they are starting to remove bots and spam accounts that have been on the platform since before Musk bought it in 2022. This move represents Musk’s latest attempt to address the ongoing issue of fake accounts that X has struggled with for years.

Tackling bots has been one of Musk’s primary focuses since before he bought Twitter. “X Corp will be tracing the people responsible and bringing the full force of the law to bear upon them,” Musk wrote in a statement on X.

X has previously made attempts to reduce the number of bots on its platform. The company introduced a “Not A Bot” program in the Philippines and New Zealand last year. This program charged new users a $1 yearly fee for protecting against bots and spammers, as mentioned in a blog post. However, the outcomes of this program remain unclear.

Removing bots has had its issues, with Elon Musk mentioning in January that an X bot mistakenly marked real accounts as spam or scams. He said they were fixing this problem. This is similar to his recent message, asking users to report to him or X engineers if real accounts are wrongly suspended during the bot purge.

While the precise count of bots on X is unknown, experts have noticed more bot activity during significant events such as the 2024 Super Bowl, the first Republican primary debate, and Tucker Carlson’s interview with Donald Trump.

Since Elon Musk took over, X has seen significant changes. Musk has brought back some accounts that were banned before. He says X will still take down illegal content, but now it’s more open to free speech, taking a less strict approach to moderating what is posted.

Studies have also shown increased hate speech on X since Musk took over. This followed after significant reductions in the platform’s trust and safety department during 2022 and 2023. Musk, however, argues that the visibility of such posts has decreased, suggesting that fewer people are exposed to them.

The ongoing efforts to remove bots and trolls from X are aimed at mitigating the presence and distribution of toxic content on the platform. Also, X is now giving free blue checks to some influential users without payment. Musk mentioned that accounts with many verified followers would also get extra Premium features for free.