According to a new Platformer report, Twitter is secretly boosting the accounts of 35 VIP users over others.
Platformer's managing editor, Zo Schiffer, cited internal Twitter documents that listed 35 VIP users whose posts are monitored and promoted for increased visibility.
Schiffer distributed 14 of the 35 names on the rundown, which included Lebron James, the NBA star; Mr. Monster, an unmistakable YouTuber; US politician Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; The conservative commentator Ben Shapiro; and Elon Musk, Twitter's CEO.
Elon Musk has had numerous Twitter conversations with the pro-Trump commentator catturd2, who was also on the list.
According to Platformer, Twitter developers have made sure that the tweets of these VIP users would be automatically more visible than those of other users. The celebrity clients' tweets likewise sidestep a Twitter calculation which keeps an excessive number of posts from a specific client from being seen, per Platformer.
The 14 names that were given seemed to come from all sides of politics. Although former President Donald Trump no longer posts on Truth Social despite having his Twitter account reinstated in November, President Joe Biden was on Platformer's list of the 14 users.
Not everyone on the list is a fan of Musk. Ocasio-Cortez and the CEO of Twitter have a long and storied history of public disagreement. Musk and Ocasio-Cortez engaged in a Twitter argument in December, during which she instructed him to "lay off the proto-fascism" and put his phone down.
To protect their sources' identities, Platformer did not publish the complete list of Twitter accounts.
The distributing of this rundown comes after a December article from Platformer, which revealed that Musk was requesting that Twitter change Twitter's code to make his posts more noticeable.
In February, Musk requested changes to help the perceivability of his tweets over any other person on the stage after his post on the Super Bowl got less impressions than Biden's, per a different Platformer report in February.
This list was made public just as Twitter was going to get rid of its old blue ticks on April 1. An account with legacy blue ticks is a verified user of "public interest," such as politicians, celebrities, and public figures.
Outside of normal business hours, Insider sent a request for comment to Musk representatives, but they did not immediately respond.
Insider sent an email to Twitter's press department for a response. Insider's questions were not addressed in the company's automated response.
©️ Vygr Media Private Limited 2022. All Rights Reserved.
