Shadowbanning: Twitter’s Algorithm Disclosure Reveals Blacklisting Code

Twitter took its algorithm open source this weekend, allowing users to trawl through the company’s formerly hidden code. In the process, new information about how Twitter’s blacklisting of users and topics has come to light.

One Twitter user discovered a line of code referencing Twitter’s blacklisted topics. The blacklist itself was not released as part of the open-sourcing of the algorithm, as it is a file in a database and not a line of code.

What the code does reveal is that a user who discusses blacklisted topics on the platform will get de-ranked by the algorithm, causing fewer people to see and interact with their tweet.