The study by the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA), which analysed the entire public dataset of 1.76 million notes published by X between January 2021 and March 2025, comes as the platform's CEO, Linda Yaccarino, resigned after two years at the helm
The vast majority of submitted notes—more than 90 percent—never reach the public, as per DDIA's study
Image: Lionel Bonaventure / AFP
More than 90 percent of X's Community Notes—a crowd-sourced verification system popularized by Elon Musk's platform—are never published, a study said Wednesday, highlighting major limits in its effectiveness as a debunking tool.
The study by the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas (DDIA), which analyzed the entire public dataset of 1.76 million notes published by X between January 2021 and March 2025, comes as the platform's CEO Linda Yaccarino resigned after two years at the helm.
The community-driven moderation model—now embraced by major tech platforms including Facebook-owner Meta and TikTok—allows volunteers to contribute notes that add context or corrections to posts.
Other users then rate the proposed notes as "helpful" or "not helpful." If the notes get "helpful" ratings from enough users with diverse perspectives, they are published on X, appearing right below the challenged posts.
"The vast majority of submitted notes—more than 90 percent—never reach the public," DDIA's study said.