Rep. Brad Sherman blamed Elon Musk’s X algorithm for serving him saucy pictures amid a potential scandal involving him scrolling through softcore pornography in public.
The 71-year-old California Democrat was photographed looking at pictures of lingerie-clad girls on his tablet while on a flight. The pictures of Sherman were posted to X by the Dear White Staffers account, an account made of a “group of Capitol Hill staffers working to expose poor working conditions.” The images were later reposted by Donald Trump Jr.
As the images circulated on social media, John Bresnahan of Punchbowl News secured an interview with Rep. Sherman, who claimed the photos were served to him by X’s algorithm.
“This was on Twitter. These pictures came up on ‘For You.’ I must’ve looked at more than 1,000 posts,” Sherman said.
X’s “For You” tab is an algorithmically driven feed that shows users a mix of old and new tweets from a variety of accounts, including ones they don’t follow. According to Social Bee, the content served in a user’s “For You” tab is determined by a variety of factors.
“The Twitter feed algorithm brings in out-of-network tweets from accounts you don’t follow, based on your past interactions. Your past likes, retweets, and replies help the algorithm decide what to show you,” Social Bee explains.
Posts liked by “those in your network” can also influence what appears in the “For You” tab, according to X.
In the three pictures of Sherman posted by Dear White Staffers, multiple images of lingerie-clad girls appear one after another on his feed.
“Is it pornography? I don’t think Elon Musk thinks so. Is it appropriate? No,” said Sherman.
X considers women in lingerie to be “Adult Content,” according to its terms of service. Their definition of Adult Content includes “Full or partial nudity, including close-ups of genitals, buttocks, or breasts.” An X user can turn off “media that may contain sensitive content” in their settings.
Musk has consistently tinkered with the “For You” tab with controversial results. During his three years at X, he has been accused of juicing the “For You” tab to boost his own tweets and those of right-wing accounts.
Sherman, who has served in Congress since 1997, admitted that he didn’t mind getting served the saucy photographs.
“If I see a picture of a woman, might I look at it longer than a sunset? Yeah.”
In a response to the Daily Beast’s request for comment, Sherman said, “Simply put—Donald Trump Jr, the White House and MAGA are trying to divert from releasing the Epstein files. This was nothing more than scrolling through Twitter—and unfortunately Elon Musk has ruined the Twitter algorithm to give people content that they don’t ask for or subscribe to.
“Don Jr. and the White House press office are pushing this story when there is no story. Shame on Don Jr., shame on the White House, shame on MAGA. They ought to join the bi-partisan demands to release the Epstein files—now.”
