The design and policy choices of X created fertile ground for inflammatory and racist narratives targeting Muslims and migrants following last year’s deadly Southport attack in the United Kingdom, a new analysis showed on Wednesday. According to research published by Amnesty International, social media platform X played a “central role” in the spread of false narratives and harmful content, which contributed to riots against Muslim and migrant communities in Britain.
The technical analysis of X’s open-source code or publicly available software showed that its recommender system, also known as content-ranking algorithms, “systematically prioritises” content that sparks outrage, provokes heated exchanges, reactions and engagement, without adequate safeguards to prevent or mitigate harm.
“Our analysis shows that X’s algorithmic design and policy choices contributed to heightened risks amid a wave of anti-Muslim and anti-migrant violence observed in several locations across the UK last year, and which continues to present a serious human rights risk today,” said Pat de Brun, head of Big Tech Accountability at Amnesty International.