X Now Notifies Users When Governments Have Restricted Their Posts

X announced in September 2026 that it will notify users when their posts have been “shadowbanned” — shown to fewer people — due to compliance with local government laws. The update expands the platform’s existing transparency tool, “Under the Hood,” to include information about government-ordered content restrictions at the individual account and post level.

The expanded tool will show users if their account or posts had visibility limited because X complied with a legal demand, identify which specific posts were withheld in a given country, and name which country made the request. The information is available to any user who has posted at least 10 times during the month and can be downloaded as a JSON file. X noted that non-technical users can drop the file into an AI chatbot to have it explained.

X first rolled out the “Under the Hood” feature in August 2026, initially allowing users to see labels applied to their accounts or posts that may have affected their visibility. Previously, this kind of account-level moderation data was not available to end users, leading many to accuse the company — formerly known as Twitter — of shadowbanning them without disclosure. Most companies share government request data only in aggregate through periodic transparency reports, not at the individual post or account level.

X cited user appreciation for greater transparency as the reason for the expansion. Governments request content restrictions for a range of stated reasons, including laws against hate speech, terrorism-related content, and election regulations. Free-expression groups have argued that some countries also use such laws to suppress political dissent.

The move is part of a broader set of transparency efforts at X, which has also open-sourced its “For You” recommendation algorithm and released additional details about its ranking system, including the parameters used to weight different signals that determine which posts are displayed.