Community Notes Usage on Elon Musk’s X Declines Significantly in 2025

Participation in X’s Community Notes feature, which was initially heralded by owner Elon Musk as a solution for combating misinformation on the platform, has decreased sharply in recent months. An analysis by NBC News revealed that user submissions to Community Notes have dropped significantly this year, resulting in fewer notes being displayed alongside posts. Following a peak of nearly 120,000 notes in January, the number of submissions fell to under 60,000 by May.

The display of notes has also declined, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the feature. The downturn in submissions began in February, coinciding with Musk’s claims that misuse of the system by foreign governments was occurring. Despite previous emphases on this user-generated content mechanism, Musk has seldom mentioned Community Notes recently.

As the platform’s traffic also dipped from approximately 4.7 billion visits in January to 4.4 billion in May, the rate of decline in Community Notes submissions is reportedly sharper than the overall traffic decrease. A spokesperson for X suggested that fluctuations in note submissions are influenced by global events and acknowledged that content moderation changes might be indirectly impacting the need for notes. Experts have raised alarms that dwindling participation in Community Notes could place X in jeopardy of falling short of European regulatory standards, as the European Union mandates mechanisms to control misinformation.

Originally introduced as Birdwatch in 2021, the feature aimed to foster a well-informed public by allowing users to add helpful context to posts. In recent developments, if users perceive that fewer posts require notes, motivation to contribute may wane, leading to a diminishing cycle of trust in the system. As volunteer contributions become less frequent, the confidence in Community Notes deteriorates, further jeopardizing the integrity of the feature.