Elon Musk has announced that social media platform X will publicly release its algorithm within the next seven days, marking a significant step toward transparency in how content is ranked and distributed on the platform. The disclosure will include the full codebase used for recommending both organic posts and advertisements, a move that could offer developers, researchers, and regulators unprecedented insight into how information flows across X.
Musk said the release will not be a one-off exercise. “This will be repeated every 4 weeks, with comprehensive developer notes, to help you understand what changed,” he wrote in a post on X. By committing to regular updates, Musk signalled an effort to institutionalise transparency and allow external observers to track how recommendation systems evolve over time, including changes that may affect reach, engagement, and monetisation.
The announcement comes at a time when X is under sustained regulatory scrutiny in Europe over the role of its algorithms in amplifying harmful or illegal content. European Union officials have been closely monitoring the platform’s compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA), which imposes strict obligations on large online platforms to disclose how their systems moderate and recommend content.
European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier confirmed that the bloc has extended a data retention order tied to investigations into X’s algorithms and the dissemination of illegal content until the end of 2026. The extension reflects ongoing concerns about whether the platform’s systems adequately mitigate risks related to misinformation, hate speech, and other unlawful material.
X has already faced financial and legal consequences in the region. The platform was fined €120 million for alleged transparency violations under the DSA, and in July 2025, Paris prosecutors launched a separate probe into suspected algorithmic bias and fraudulent data extraction. X has pushed back strongly against these actions, characterising the French investigation as a “politically-motivated criminal investigation” that threatens users’ free speech.
By pledging to make its algorithm public and updating it on a fixed schedule, X appears to be positioning transparency as both a technical and political response to regulatory pressure. Supporters argue that open access to the code could help build trust and enable independent scrutiny, while critics question whether releasing code alone is sufficient to address concerns about real-world outcomes. As regulators and platforms continue to clash over accountability, X’s move could set a precedent for how social media companies respond to demands for algorithmic openness.
