Priyank Kharge urges X to probe ‘mass reporting, follower stagnation’ of opposition handles

Priyank Kharge calls on X to investigate alleged mass-reporting and stagnant follower counts affecting opposition leaders' accounts.

Karnataka IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge has urged social media platform X to look into the alleged mass-reporting of posts and stagnation of follower count of handles of Opposition leaders on the platform.

The post followed a note by Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor on X, who said his follower count on the platform has been dropping and that his account is not being recommended to new users interested in the subjects he engages with.

Reposting this, Mr. Kharge noted that many accounts across the opposition ecosystem, including his, have been facing a similar experience. 

“It is a well known toolkit where coordinated mass reporting of posts and accounts often leads to limited visibility and de-ranking in feeds. Now whether reach and follower count is being restricted by @X on its own volition or at someone’s behest, is anybody’s guess. Either way, it would be a welcome move for X to examine this more closely,” he wrote, tagging X owner Elon Musk. 

Mr. Kharge currently has 2,26,500 followers. However, sources close to him told The Hindu that the figure has remained more or less stagnant for the last three years.

“When a lot of people mass report an account, even if it’s done without any basis, the algorithm can potentially de-rank that account, limiting its visibility,” he said.