Twitter has completely disabled autocomplete results from appearing when using the platform’s search function. The measure was taken after users started pointing out gruesome recommendations being displayed.
The content being autocompleted in search queries reportedly ranged from videos of animal abuse, to mass shootings, to executions.
🚨Twitter search autocomplete/search suggestions seem to have no guardrails right now … 🚨 pic.twitter.com/nX4JkxAAaZ
— Philip Mai🌻Info doesn't put itself into practice (@PhMai) May 11, 2023
Vice’s Motherboard tested Twitter’s search and found that searching “dog” would yield “dog screwdriver video,” and “wagner” would suggest “wagner hammer execution.”
In response, the Elon Musk-owned social networking site has shut down autocomplete recommendations across the board. They no longer appear on either the web, or on the mobile app version of Twitter.
It’s unclear why these recommendations starting appearing in the first place. It’s equally unclear how long we’ll have to wait for the feature to be restored.
