Twitter, which is owned by Elon Musk, has released parts of its source code that determine the content recommendation algorithm for its users. Musk announced that more of the code would be made available in the near future. While the move was intended to allow third-party reviewers to analyze it, Musk warned that some embarrassing issues may be discovered.
In a tweet, Musk stated that most of the recommendation algorithms would be open source, with the remainder to follow. He added that independent third parties should be able to determine, with reasonable accuracy, what is likely to be shown to users. The company uploaded the source code to two repositories on GitHub, including the recommendations algorithm that determines the tweets users see on their timelines. However, Twitter’s ad recommendations code is not included.
Musk believes that code transparency would lead to higher user trust and improved service. The decision also comes after parts of Twitter’s source code were leaked on GitHub. Last week, Twitter requested that the code be taken down.