Elon Musk Accused of Shadow Banning Critics on X

On X (formerly known as Twitter), users criticizing owner Elon Musk might be facing hidden penalties.

According to a report by The New York Times, several prominent right-wing accounts that clashed with Musk in December 2024 saw their engagement numbers collapse overnight. Posts that once drew wide attention suddenly struggled to gain any visibility, suggesting the accounts may have been shadow banned – a practice where a platform suppresses users' reach without notifying them.

Critics argue that this undermines Musk's public stance as a "free speech absolutist."
 "This behavior goes against the environment he promised to build," said Ari Cohn, lead counsel for technology policy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. "You can’t claim First Amendment principles while silencing dissent."

One of the affected users, Anastasia Maria Loupis, known for sharing far-right views and conspiracy theories, noticed her daily views plummet after criticizing Musk’s support for a skilled immigration program. After setting up a new account, she quickly gained better engagement, fueling her belief she was shadow banned.

"If it happens to small accounts, nobody notices," Loupis told the NYT. "But when it happens to influencers with millions of followers, everyone sees it."

Similarly, Laura Loomer, another far-right figure, reported a severe drop in reach after arguing with Musk over immigration. Her X Premium status was briefly revoked, and her engagement only improved after Musk resumed interacting with her posts.

"It’s wrong to promote X as a free speech platform while cutting off users’ ability to monetize," Loomer commented.

While shadow banning is hard to prove – since engagement drops can happen for many reasons – the timing and consistency across several cases are raising eyebrows. Algorithms are often unpredictable, but Musk’s history of retaliatory actions, including suspending journalists and blocking links to rival platforms like Substack, adds weight to these concerns.

Musk has previously suspended multiple journalist accounts that criticized him and even temporarily blocked all Substack links after it introduced a feature resembling X’s timeline.

Whether or not direct shadow banning took place, these incidents highlight a growing tension between Musk’s free speech rhetoric and how the platform actually operates.

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