X (Twitter) Admits Bug Exposed Private Likes to Some Users

X (Twitter), the social network owned by Elon Musk, has confirmed a significant privacy issue that allowed some users to see the likes of other accounts, even though these likes were supposed to be private. According to 9to5Mac, the social network has sent an email to affected users, warning them about this privacy issue. The email states,

“The X team received information that some ‘likes’ may have remained publicly available. We have contacted you because your X account may have been affected by this security incident.”

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X (Twitter) explains that this incident occurred in June 2024, just a few weeks after the company had made “likes” hidden from everyone. It seems there was still a way to view the likes of some accounts despite the promise that they were no longer visible anywhere. Although the company has not provided further details, it appears that this problem has been resolved.

Currently, when a user visits a profile, they cannot see the “like” tab that was previously displayed. Additionally, if they view a post, they cannot click on the like count to see who has liked that post.

The Reason Why X (Twitter) Likes Are Private

X (Twitter) introduced private likes as an official feature—previously available only to X Premium users—in early June. The company stated that private likes were implemented because they believed public likes were “incentivizing bad behavior” and caused many users to avoid liking things they genuinely enjoyed “out of fear of retaliation from trolls or to protect their public image.”

With private likes, users can safely save the posts they like the most without others knowing they liked them (only the author of the post can see this). This change also helps improve the algorithm, allowing the social network to show users recommended content based on their interests.