Elon Musk’s X cracks down on 1.7 million spam bots
The move follows Musk’s earlier comments about reworking external link previews to retain user engagement within the platform.
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Elon Musk’s social media platform X has launched one of its most extensive anti-spam operations yet, removing 1.7 million bot accounts that had been flooding replies with spam and irrelevant content.
The announcement was made on Monday by Nikita Bier, Head of Product at X, who said users should begin to notice improvements in their timelines soon.
This week we purged 1.7 million bots engaging in reply spam. You should start noticing improvements in the coming days. We will be focusing on DM spam next.
— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) October 12, 2025
In a post shared on the platform, Bier wrote, “This week we purged 1.7 million bots engaging in reply spam. You should start noticing improvements in the coming days. We will be focusing on DM spam next.”
While X did not disclose the specific methods used to identify or remove the accounts, the company has reportedly relied on automated detection systems and behavioural analysis tools to flag suspicious bot activity.
The large-scale removal marks one of the most significant moderation actions since Elon Musk’s takeover in 2022, amid continued scrutiny of the platform for rising levels of spam and fake engagement.
New link-sharing and engagement tests ahead
In a separate update, Bier revealed that X will begin testing a new approach to link-sharing and engagement next week. The goal, he said, is to ensure “all content on the platform has equal visibility on Timeline.”
The move follows Musk’s earlier comments about reworking external link previews to retain user engagement within the platform. The upcoming test could lead to changes in how posts containing links are displayed or ranked algorithmically, potentially reshaping content discovery on X.
Android downloads surge as app rebuild begins
Bier also pointed to a record surge in Android downloads, calling it “one of the best weeks in our history.” He added that the company is in the process of rebuilding the Android app from the ground up and is actively recruiting engineers to join the project in Palo Alto.
“X had one of the best weeks for Android downloads in our history. We're rebuilding the whole app from scratch—and we're looking for the most talented Android engineers in the world,” Bier posted.
The developments signal a broader transformation underway at X, combining platform clean-up, infrastructure overhaul, and product experimentation as Musk and his team push to redefine the company’s long-term roadmap.
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