X (formerly Twitter)

X (formerly Twitter)
Industry	Social media; digital advertising; technology
Country	United States
Founded	2006
Headquarters	San Francisco, California, United States
Parent company
Status	Active
Verification	Verified Verification status: Verified

Overview

X (formerly Twitter) is a U.S.-based social media platform owned by X Corp., controlled by Elon Musk. Since Musk’s acquisition, X has undergone significant changes to content moderation, algorithmic ranking, and advertising policies. In 2025, public reporting and advocacy documentation described X as carrying paid recruitment advertisements for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of broader Department of Homeland Security (DHS) digital recruitment efforts. X has also been the subject of sustained scrutiny for algorithmic visibility changes affecting political and human-rights content and for owner-driven political signaling.

Boycott

X is listed for boycott due to its role in distributing ICE recruitment advertisements, documented algorithmic interference in political visibility, and a pattern of conduct by ownership and affiliated entities that advocacy groups describe as facilitating far-right normalization.

In 2025, reporting confirmed that ICE recruitment advertisements appeared on X, prompting criticism from immigrant-rights organizations, civil-liberties groups, and platform users, and leading to renewed boycott calls and advertiser withdrawals.

Multiple investigations and independent audits documented algorithmic changes on X that altered reach and visibility of political content, including deprioritization or suppression of material related to Palestinian rights, immigration enforcement abuses, and anti-fascist organizing, while amplifying accounts and narratives associated with far-right movements. Researchers and civil-society organizations have characterized these practices as algorithmic manipulation rather than neutral moderation.

Elon Musk’s public conduct has further intensified boycott calls. Musk has repeatedly engaged with and endorsed far-right accounts and conspiracy narratives; his public gestures and statements—including a widely circulated salute gesture at a political rally—were interpreted by numerous observers and advocacy groups as signaling affinity with authoritarian and fascist symbolism, prompting condemnation from civil-rights organizations.

X’s affiliated artificial intelligence venture, xAI, has also drawn criticism. Researchers, journalists, and watchdog organizations documented outputs from xAI systems that produced racist and homophobic language or stereotypes, raising concerns about governance, training data, and safeguards. These findings were cited by LGBTQ+ organizations and anti-racism groups as evidence of systemic failures and cultural alignment issues within Musk-controlled companies.

Advocacy organizations argue that the combination of ICE/DHS recruitment support, algorithmic interference in political discourse, normalization of far-right ideology by ownership, and documented discriminatory AI outputs places X in direct conflict with basic human-rights principles and justifies inclusion in organized boycott campaigns.

Background

ICE and DHS increasingly rely on commercial social media platforms for recruitment advertising and public messaging. X’s scale and algorithmic control over political visibility give it outsized influence over public discourse and enforcement capacity. ICE List documents X due to the cumulative impact of its advertising services, documented algorithmic practices, and ownership-linked conduct intersecting with immigration enforcement and far-right political normalization.