4 years since Elon Musk bought Twitter, what has changed?
By Easton Martin
October 27 marks four years since Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, now known as X. Since the ownership transfer on October 27, 2022, the company has restructured many aspects of its content moderation policies and business operations.
Immediately following the buyout, Musk dismantled the previous executive leadership and significantly reduced the global workforce, including teams responsible for content curation and trust and safety. The company subsequently released internal communications, titled the “Twitter Files,” which detailed how prior management handled content moderation requests and account suspensions.
Under the rebranded X platform, corporate policy shifted from permanent account removals for disputed speech to a framework defined as “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach.” Rather than banning users for controversial viewpoints that do not violate the law, the platform restricts the algorithmic visibility and advertising monetization of posts that violate community guidelines. As part of this policy overhaul, X restored thousands of previously banned accounts and disbanded earlier advisory councils.
To replace centralized fact-checking teams, X expanded Community Notes, a crowdsourced system where contributors from differing political viewpoints must reach consensus before a contextual note is attached to a post. The platform also eliminated the legacy verification system, which previously granted blue checkmarks primarily to public figures, journalists, and government officials, and integrated verification into its paid X Premium subscription tier, along with revenue-sharing programs for content creators.
