Conservative influencers have accused tech billionaire Elon Musk of censoring dissenting views on X, formerly Twitter, after at least 14 accounts lost their blue verification badges, a premium feature allowing monetization, late Thursday and Friday. The reported claims surfaced following criticism of Musk’s immigration stance.
These accounts were stripped of their verification badges, cutting them off from features such as advertising revenue-sharing and subscription earnings, according to a review by NBC News. While the accounts remained active as of Friday, their owners expressed concern about the impact on their ability to engage with followers.
Among the critics is MAGA influencer Laura Loomer, who claimed, "I have now also been banned from being able to purchase premium. We are always told to buy premium. But if you criticize immigration you get your premium check taken away and you also get banned from being able to buy Premium. Pure censorship. MAGA has been silenced.” Loomer further alleged that approximately 75% of replies to her posts were marked as spam after an online spat with Musk.
Elon Musk has addressed claims of censorship on X following allegations by conservative influencers that their premium account features were revoked after criticizing his pro-legal immigration stance.
On Thursday night, Musk took to X to explain the platform’s algorithmic policies.
“Just a reminder that the algorithm is trying to maximize unregretted user-seconds,” Musk tweeted. “If far more credible, verified subscriber accounts (not bots) mute/block your account compared to those who like your posts, your reach will decline significantly.”
In a follow-up tweet, he added: “That said, any accounts found to be engaged in coordinated attacks to spam target accounts with mute/blocks will themselves be categorized – correctly – as spam. Live by the spam, die by the spam.”
Musk’s explanation did little to quell the backlash, with many conservatives interpreting his remarks as confirmation of alleged shadowbanning—reducing post visibility without notifying affected users.
Preston Parra, a 23-year-old conservative influencer, called the actions by X a retaliation for opposing Musk’s views.
“If anyone thinks for one minute the REAL backbone of the right wing and MAGA is gonna stand idly by while these big tech gillionaire Silicon Valley dweebs… steal our country, they’re mistaken,” Parra said in a text message.
The controversy marks a growing divide between Musk, who has championed X as a bastion of free speech, and conservative factions accusing him of selective censorship. Musk has yet to directly respond to allegations of targeting critics over their political views.
