X (Twitter)

Before Elon Musk bought Twitter and took the company private in October 2022, Twitter had a lengthy history of discrimination against conservative, religious viewpoints and consistently opposed free speech. This included de-platforming former President Donald Trump, Jordan Peterson, the Babylon Bee, and many others (1)(2)(3)(4). Twitter also censored a variety of conservative federal government officials, including the head of Customs and Border Protection, but not terrorist accounts (5)(6)(7). In 2023, Elon Musk reinstated the accounts of former President Donald Trump, Jordan Peterson, the Babylon Bee, and others (8)(9). Twitter suspended the account for Senator Steve Daines on February 7, 2023 after he changed his profile picture to an image of him and his wife beside an antelope they had hunted (10). Later that day, Twitter reversed its suspension after public outcry. On March 1, Twitter briefly suspended the personal account of U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) without explanation (11). On June 1, Twitter canceled a deal with The Daily Wire to stream the latter’s documentary “What is a Woman?” for free on the site on the anniversary of the film’s release, claiming that the film violated the site’s policy against “misgendering” (12). Amidst the controversy, Musk referred to Twitter employees’ decision to cancel the deal as a “mistake” and reiterated that the film is “definitely allowed” on the site, as Twitter’s community guidelines had recently been changed to remove “misgendering” as an offense (13). Musk later reposted the link to the stream on his personal Twitter page, stating that “every parent” should watch the film (14). After these events, the company began court filings to rename itself “X” in April 2023 and was officially rebranded as X on July 24, 2023 (15). X was a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which demonetized and suppressed content that it deemed to spread “hate speech” or “misinformation”, discuss “debated social issues in a negative or partisan context”, or “vilif[y]” individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These arbitrary guidelines were used to censor mainstream perspectives online (16)(17)(18). According to X Chairman Elon Musk, “Twitter was acquired by X Corp both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app. This is not simply a company renaming itself, but doing the same thing” (19). Musk has said X’s new policy is “freedom of speech not freedom of reach” (20). X has adopted a new content moderation policy (21). From its rules page: “X’s purpose is to serve the public conversation. Violence, harassment and other similar types of behavior discourage people from expressing themselves, and ultimately diminish the value of global public conversation. Our rules are to ensure all people can participate in the public conversation freely and safely.” X has not deplatformed users due to views or beliefs.

X does not publish charitable giving guidelines (1).

X does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (1).

Twitter’s Legal, Public Policy & Trust, & Safety Lead, Vijaya Gadde, denounced various states’ legislative efforts to protect election integrity and security (1). The company opposed legislation in Iowa intended to protect parental rights, girls’ sports, bathroom facilities, and gendered spaces (2). Twitter signed an open letter endorsing the Equality Act, a contentious proposal to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act by adding sexual orientation and so-called gender identity as protected categories. The legislation would, among other implications, grant biological men access to women-only spaces such as sports teams and public restrooms, and compel healthcare providers to deliver sex-denying healthcare. However, X is no longer part of this coalition (3). X received a score of -25 on the 2025 Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), demonstrating its independence from this stakeholder activist group’s ideological initiatives (4).

Twitter/X was a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (1)(2)(3). The company pledged over $100 million to Black Lives Matter movement and related causes in 2020 (4)(5). Twitter fulfilled some of these grants in 2021, but it is unclear if X has made similar contributions in line with this pledge. Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of X using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (6).

Twitter terminated its PAC in 2020, and X has not used its lobbying for ideological purposes (1)(2)(3).