X is ‘Suppressing’ Search Results Related to Trump

The social media platform X has restricted the ability to search for specific posts by Donald Trump.

According to a report by the American news site Mediaite, if someone tries to search for a specific post by Trump, they will have to go through the entire timeline of the former U.S. President’s account.

Mediaite explains that while users typically can search for specific posts on various accounts using the “@” symbol, this feature has been disabled in Trump’s case.

As a result, if someone tries to search for posts by the former President related to COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States, X will not show them. Instead, only a selection of posts will appear, and even those are not in the correct order.

Trump’s X (formerly Twitter) account was banned following the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, with the company citing violations of its policies. Although Trump filed a lawsuit to regain access to his account, he had to wait until Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company.

Meanwhile, after Trump’s arrest on charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, his mugshot became the first and only post after his return to the platform.

Mediaite states that the reason for this situation is still unclear. Previously, posts from accounts that were reinstated after a ban, like Alex Jones, could still be searched. Even posts from high-profile political figures like Vice President Kamala Harris are searchable. A software engineer who spoke with the publication claims that this is being done deliberately by X.

When tech site Engadget asked X for a comment on this issue, there was no immediate response.