Twitter Announces Content Recommendation Algorithm Code Will Be Opened To The Public

Twitter has partially opened its code. (photo: dock. istock)

JAKARTA - Twitter created some of the computer codes that determine how these social media sites recommend public content. Twitter owner Elon Musk added that the entire code will be available in the next few weeks.

This announcement will allow users and programmers to see how it works and the ability to suggest modifications to the algorithm.

"In the next few weeks, we will open up everything that contributes to showing tweets," Musk said in a tweet on Saturday, April 1.

Reuters reported, the company said in a blog post that it had uploaded code in two repositories on the Github code-sharing platform. They include source codes for many parts of Twitter, including recommendation algorithms that control tweets that users see on their timeline.

This step was taken at Musk's request, the owner of his company's billionaire, who said code transparency would lead to higher trust among users and rapid improvements to products. It also aims to address common concerns among users and policymakers, who are increasingly examining social media platforms for how algorithms select content users see.

Musk also said Twitter would update its recommendation algorithm based on user advice every 24 to 48 hours.

On Friday, April 31st Musk and several Twitter employees held a session on Spaces, Twitter's audio chat feature, asking users to provide recommendations and questions about how the platform code works.

One person asked why the Twitter code seemed to classify users as Republicans or Democrats. Twitter employees replied that it was an old feature that was not important to the platform's recommendation system, and the company was looking for ways to remove it.

Repository on Github does not include a code that powers Twitter's advertising recommendations, the company said. They also said they had issued a code that would jeopardize user security or privacy, as well as details that would undermine efforts to prevent child sexual abuse material on the platform.

The news also comes after part of Twitter's leaked source code on Github, which lowered the code last week at Twitter's request.

Twitter asked the US District Court for California's Northern District to order Github to produce "all identification information" related to the Github account that has posted a leaked code, according to a legal filing.