Is X Throttling Kamala Harris' Account? Key Democrat Claims 'Time-Sensitive Censorship Issue'

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses Rep. Jerry Nadler's call for the House Judiciary Committee to investigate Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) regarding the apparent censorship of Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign account. Nadler claims this is a "serious and time-sensitive censorship issue" as Harris is at the start of her presidential campaign.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Rep. Jerry Nadler's Call for Investigation

1. What is the key issue that Rep. Jerry Nadler is raising regarding Elon Musk's X?

• Rep. Jerry Nadler is calling for an investigation into the "apparent censorship" of Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign account on X (formerly Twitter).
• Nadler argues that Americans and Harris have a protected interest and right to engage with each other on social media as the vice president makes her run for president.

2. What specific information is Nadler seeking from X?

• Nadler is seeking an explanation for why certain users were prevented from following the Kamala Harris campaign account.
• He wants to know the total number of users who tried and failed to follow the account, what actions were taken to address the matter, and whether Musk was involved in "directing, encouraging, or coercing any employee at X to throttle or limit any user" from following the account.

3. What were the user experiences reported regarding following the Kamala Harris campaign account?

• Multiple X users posted that they were stopped from following Harris' campaign page and received a message saying they could not do so because a follow limit was reached.
• Some users claimed they had not actually reached the limit and were able to follow other accounts.

4. How does X's follow limit policies work?

• X limits the speed at which users can follow other accounts, allowing them to follow up to 400 users per day.
• However, the platform notes the maximum number of accounts users can follow is "different for each account and is automatically calculated based on your unique ratio of followers to following."

5. What was the growth of the "Kamala HQ" account after Harris announced her run for president?

• The "Kamala HQ" account gained more than 500,000 new followers from Sunday to Monday after Harris announced her run for president and Biden endorsed her.

[02] X's Policies and Musk's Response

1. What are X's policies and measures against artificial inflation of followers or engagement?

• X has policies and anti-bot measures against the artificial inflation of followers or engagement.
• Musk has acknowledged these measures have not worked perfectly, saying in January a spam/scam bot on X accidentally flagged multiple legitimate accounts.

2. How did Musk and X respond to the bot purge process?

• Months later, during a bot purge, Musk and X told followers to let them know if genuine accounts were impacted or suspended during the process.

3. What is Elon Musk's current net worth?

• Musk's net worth is estimated at $248.7 billion as of Tuesday, making him the world's wealthiest person.

4. What are the potential reasons for the "limit reached" message received by users trying to follow the Kamala Harris campaign account?

• X says the "limit reached" message can come as a result of reaching daily follow limits, following too many accounts too quickly, hitting a follower-following ratio limit, or because an account is locked or limited for other reasons.
• However, in at least one case, an X user claimed they successfully followed other accounts shortly after receiving the "limit reached" message when they attempted to follow Harris' page.