X owner Elon Musk said on Wednesday that X will fully open-source the app’s codebase to increase transparency and ideally win more trust from platform users.
“Once we have completed our review for security vulnerabilities, we will make the entire codebase of X open source, with no exceptions,” Musk said in a post on X.
Musk added that X will invite third-party reviewers to examine the system running in the app to confirm that the open-source code is what’s being used.
“Trust through total transparency is the only thing that should be believed,” Musk said.
It’s a noble sentiment, although it does feel a little like Groundhog Day.
In 2023, just months after acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk published a version of the app’s feed algorithm in GitHub, which, at that time, he vowed to maintain with regular updates, so that anybody could see how posts are ranked and displayed in-stream.
However, the data shared was only a partial listing, with various elements withheld from public display. The code was also never updated, despite Musk’s promises, which left many frustrated at the apparent lack of transparency, despite Musk’s pledge.
Though that hasn’t stopped Musk from continually referring to the published code data as a demonstration of X’s transparency. He has also said that X is the only platform that shares this level of insight, without acknowledging that he hasn’t exactly shared the insight he promised.
Earlier this year, Musk vowed again to do this, explaining in an X post that the platform would soon publish all of the algorithmic code for X’s news feed and ads, in order to ensure that users were able to understand exactly what they saw in the app.
As per Musk: “We will make the new X algorithm, including all code used to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users, open source in 7 days. This will be repeated every 4 weeks, with comprehensive developer notes, to help you understand what changed.”
That didn’t happen either, which suggests that it’s unlikely he’ll make good on this latest promise.
In theory, open-sourcing the codebase would provide more insight into how X’s system functions, and could help users better understand why they’re seeing what they’re seeing in their feed.
X is riding high with users this week, after a positive response to its recent algorithm update, which puts more emphasis on content from profiles that users follow in the app.
That positive sentiment seems to be what’s fueling Musk’s renewed sense of openness, though whether it actually results in real, valuable transparency remains to be seen.
