For most people, the riots in France were a concerning sign of social tensions boiling over amid the complex legacies of systemic injustice, socioeconomic inequities and biased policing. But for anyone following the crisis on Twitter, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a full-blown civil war driven by racial tensions.

Twitter’s algorithm currently boosts tweets from Twitter Blue accounts in the For You timeline and on hashtags. When Elon Musk took over, many warned that his changes to how Twitter verifies accounts would have serious implications for mis- and disinformation on the platform.

The cumulative effect of these changes has been that Twitter’s algorithm now, in the aggregate, downranks informed contributors (most of whom have not purchased Twitter Blue) in favour of Twitter Blue subscribers. Many of the people promoted by the algorithm at best have no idea what they’re talking about, and at worst have a malicious agenda.it was a full-blown civil war driven by racial tensions.