Social media company X reversed the ban on searches for Taylor Swift on Monday evening, which had been implemented after fake sexually-explicit images of the pop singer circulated on the platform.
The search functionality has now been reinstated, and Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X, stated on Monday, “We will continue to be vigilant for any attempt to spread this content and will remove it if we find it.”
On Sunday afternoon, attempts to search for Taylor Swift’s name on the social media platform (formerly known as Twitter) resulted in an error message, stating, “Something went wrong. Try reloading.” X had initially described the measure as a temporary action taken with an “abundance of caution.”
The decision to impose the search ban followed a statement from the White House on Friday, describing the fake images as “alarming” and emphasizing the responsibility of social media companies to prevent the dissemination of such misinformation.
Since billionaire Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, the platform has faced criticism for his controversial posts, leading several advertisers to reduce spending due to concerns about being associated with harmful content.
