Twitter CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday that the firm is prepared to open source the microblogging platform’s algorithm as soon as “next week.”
Musk responded to a tweet pushing the Twitter CEO to open source the platform, saying:
“Prepare to be disappointed at first when our algorithm is made open source next week,” adding that “it will improve rapidly.”
Making Twitter’s algorithm open source would make its software available to people worldwide.
The Tesla CEO’s views are consistent with past statements in which he endorsed the concept of making Twitter’s algorithm open source, which might increase transparency on the network.
He stated last year that making Twitter’s algorithm open source is “the way to go to solve both trust and efficacy.”
“I’m worried about de facto bias in ‘the Twitter algorithm’ having a major effect on public discourse. How do we know what’s really happening? The algorithm needs to be open source,” the Tesla boss said.
According to social media experts, making Twitter’s algorithm open source will allow experts to access the network’s software, allowing them to decode how hate speech spreads on the platform and recommend strategies to prevent it.
Twitter has experienced competition from other open-source social media sites, such as Mastodon, which grew in popularity following Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter in October.
Musk’s recent tweet about open-sourcing Twitter’s algorithm comes as the US Supreme Court hears arguments about the role of YouTube’s algorithm in promoting ISIS videos to its users.
However, it is unclear whether Musk is serious about his recent post about making Twitter’s algorithm open source by next week.
