Glossary

Shadow banning

A practice, alleged and sometimes confirmed, of limiting a user's content visibility on a platform without telling the user.

Also called: shadowban, visibility filtering, reduced reach

Shadow banning, or shadowbanning, is the practice of reducing the visibility of a user's posts, search results or account on a platform without notifying the user, so that the person may not realize that fewer people see the content. Platforms usually refer to related practices as "visibility filtering," "demotion" or "reduced distribution."

The term originated in online forums to describe bans hidden from the banned user. In 2022, the internal documents released after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, known as the "Twitter Files," showed that the company had used visibility filtering on certain accounts, including some conservatives, which Twitter had earlier denied did as a political practice; the company said that its approach was based on rules and not viewpoint. Other platforms have acknowledged "downranking" of certain material and the use of algorithmic limits. Researchers note that algorithmic changes can reduce reach without any intentional suppression, making it hard to prove.

Conservatives often cite shadow banning as evidence of bias and demand transparency, and some states have enacted laws requiring platforms to disclose moderation decisions, a requirement tested in courts. Platforms and many researchers say that lowering the reach of spam, misinformation or borderline content is legitimate moderation, and transparency is a matter of design. See deplatforming and section 230.

Last reviewed November 8, 2026

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Related terms

Deplatforming The removal or suspension of a person or group from a social-media or online service, often for violating rules on speech. Section 230 A 1996 federal law that shields websites from liability for most user-posted content and protects their good-faith content moderation. Viewpoint discrimination Government regulation of speech that targets the perspective expressed, treated as an especially serious First Amendment violation. Cancel culture The practice of withdrawing support from or publicly shaming people or institutions deemed to have said or done something offensive, a contested label. Compelled speech The First Amendment principle that the government generally cannot force people to express messages they disagree with.