The X platform announced the expansion of its “Under the Hood” transparency tool to show users whether their posts or accounts have experienced reduced visibility or been blocked in response to local laws or government demands. The new data will include the country that requested the restriction of a specific post when it is blocked within that country’s jurisdiction.
The change addresses one of the most opaque aspects of content management on the platform: what is popularly known as “shadowbanning,” meaning showing a post to fewer users without clearly notifying its owner. Information about account- and post-related labels or ranking reductions was not available to users at this level of detail, fueling repeated accusations that the platform was restricting access without disclosure.
What will the tool show?
“Under the Hood” allows users who have posted at least 10 times during the month to download aggregated statistics about their accounts in a JSON-format file. After the update, the process will clarify whether a visibility restriction is related to X’s compliance with a local law, and it will also identify posts that were blocked in a country and the country that submitted the legal request.
This information differs from traditional transparency reports, which technology companies usually publish as aggregate figures for government requests. Instead of merely providing the number of requests, the tool gives the user an indication of the decision that specifically affected their account or post.
Why does this change matter?
Government requests may be based on laws concerning hate speech, terrorism-related content, or election rules. Free-expression groups, however, criticize some governments for using these laws to restrict political opposition. Therefore, identifying the country that submitted the request does not determine whether the restriction is legitimate or proportionate, but it adds essential information for understanding why content visibility differs from one country to another.
In practice, users will be better able to distinguish between reduced reach resulting from recommendation systems or internal moderation policies and a restriction imposed by local legal requirements. However, the source does not state that the tool will display the contents of the government request or its complete legal basis, and the statistics remain tied to what X decides to disclose in the downloadable file.
Part of a broader transparency effort
The step comes after the tool’s launch in August and after other initiatives at X that included making portions of the “For You” algorithm and additional components of the source code repository available. Those additions included details about model settings, filtering mechanisms, and the ranking system, including signal-weighting parameters that affect the posts displayed to users.
Thus, X is adding a new layer to efforts to explain content-access decisions: from revealing some ranking mechanisms to notifying users when the reason for a restriction is connected to a legal request from a specific country. Open questions remain related to the accuracy of the displayed data and to the ability of users and researchers to verify government requests and distinguish their effects from those of the platform’s internal systems.