X, a social media platform owned by Elon Musk, a megadonor to President Trump, is promoting select content from the Trump campaign to users across the country, regardless of whether the platform has banned Trump-related content.
On the platform formerly known as Twitter, Trump campaign banner ads tagged with #Trump2024 will be shown to all U.S. users, even those who have blocked words, topics or hashtags related to the candidate or his campaign, or muted advertisers.
Additionally, the #MAGA tag displays an edited image of the former president following the assassination attempt, while the #Trump2024 hashtag displays the American flag.
It’s unclear whether the Trump campaign paid for images in the #Trump2024 or #MAGA tags, but an advertisement for the tags on the site’s trends page reads, “Promoted by Team Trump.” As Mashable noted, this is the first time the platform has enabled an image feature to promote a specific political candidate.
Clicking on the Trump2024 tag will bring up a full-screen graphic of the American flag.
The 2019 political ad ban, enacted because of election misinformation and other harmful content, was repealed by Musk in 2023, months after he reinstated Trump’s account on the platform.
Salon confirmed reports on social media that users who muted or blocked tags still saw the ads at the top of the “Explore” section of the app.
Elon Musk, who supported Trump and pledged a massive $45 million a month to support the former president’s efforts, bought the platform in 2022 and oversaw major changes that led to an increase in misinformation and dangerous content on the platform. He also lifted the suspension of Trump’s account that had been in place since the Jan. 6 attack.
X and Musk joined other platforms in promoting Trump’s campaign. Meta also removed guardrails on Trump’s account earlier this month, reversing policies put in place to ensure political stability on the platform after Trump led the storming of the U.S. Capitol.
The move appears to undermine Musk’s previous insistence that the platform, which he describes as town halls and public forums, should be politically neutral.