Twitter makes some of its source code public

Twitter makes public parts of the computer code that decides how the social media site recommends content

FILE PHOTO: A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed Twitter logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Twitter on Friday made public parts of the computer code that decides how the social media site recommends content, allowing users and programmers a peek into its workings and the ability to suggest modifications to the algorithm.

The company said it uploaded the code in two repositories on code-sharing platform Github. They include the source code for many parts of Twitter, including the recommendations algorithm which controls the tweets that users see on their timeline.

The repositories do not include the code that powers Twitter’s ad recommendations, it said.

The move comes at the behest of its billionaire owner Elon Musk, who earlier hinted at the code reveal and said code transparency would lead to higher trust among users and rapid improvements to the product.

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