X Now Shows Users When Local Laws Restrict Their Posts And Reach

X is expanding its transparency tools to tell eligible users when their posts or accounts have had their visibility restricted because the platform complied with local laws or legal demands in a particular country.

The change expands X’s “Under the Hood” feature, giving users more information about why their content may have been downranked or withheld from viewers in specific regions, according to TechCrunch.

 

TL;DR

 

• X’s Under the Hood tool can now show when local laws affected the visibility of users’ posts or accounts.
• Users can identify posts withheld following legal demands and see which country was involved.
• Eligible users can download the information as a JSON report, alongside labels previously applied to their content.

The update was announced by X Open Source on September 19 and expands a transparency feature that X first introduced in August.

According to India Today, Under the Hood can now tell users whether their account or posts had their reach limited because X was complying with local laws.

The report can also identify specific posts withheld in a country following a legal demand and name the country involved.

Previously, Under the Hood focused on labels applied to users’ accounts and posts that could influence their visibility on the platform.

 

X Users Can Check If Local Laws Affected Their Posts

 

The expanded feature could provide more context to users who believe their posts have been “shadowbanned,” a term commonly used when content appears to receive reduced distribution without an obvious explanation.

TechCrunch reports that X will now include government-required content filtering in the information available through Under the Hood.

However, the feature does not necessarily explain the full legal basis behind every restriction.

A user may be told that a post was withheld following a legal demand and which country made the request, but the report may not contain detailed information explaining the individual law or reasoning involved, according to India Today.

X already has policies allowing content to remain accessible in some countries while being blocked in another.

Under X’s country-withheld content policy, the company may restrict access to a post or account within a specific jurisdiction after receiving a valid and properly scoped request from an authorised entity or determining that the content violates applicable local laws.

The restriction is generally limited to the jurisdiction connected to the legal demand.

How To Access X’s Under The Hood Report

 

Eligible users can access Under the Hood through X’s settings.

On the app, users can open their profile, select Settings and privacy, choose Your account, and then open Under the Hood, according to India Today.

India Today reports that an account must be at least one year old and have published at least 10 posts during the previous month to qualify.

Eligible users can download the report as a JSON file containing information about account and post labels, visibility restrictions, and applicable country-specific withholding.

The format is machine-readable, meaning users may require compatible software or another tool to interpret the information.

 

X Says Users Are Normally Notified About Legal Requests

 

Under X’s existing legal request guidelines, the platform says it generally attempts to notify affected users when it receives a request to withhold their content, unless it is legally prohibited from doing so.

X says such notifications can include information about the content identified in the request and may allow users to decide whether to remove the material, respond to the requester, seek legal advice, or challenge the decision.

The platform’s enforcement policy also states that withholding a post or account in one country can be used even when the content itself does not violate X’s broader platform rules.

The Under the Hood expansion adds another layer to that process by giving eligible users a consolidated report showing whether government-required filtering or local-law compliance affected the reach of their content.

For users, that could make the difference between simply noticing that a post has lost visibility and knowing that its distribution was restricted specifically because of a legal requirement in a particular country.