X Tops App Store Download Chart As Many Turn To The Platform For News, Amid Growing Distrust Of Legacy Media Outlets

Elon Musk's X topped the download chart Wednesday, on the App Store as a growing number of people turn to the social media platform as their primary source of news. Trust in legacy media outlets has dropped sharply in recent years after many instances of blatant bias and outright misinformation published by once respected sources like BBC, CNN and New York Times.

News consumption attitudes have also changed in recent years, as those otherwise not interested in some stories are nonetheless reeled in by the memetic, immediate and salacious nature of such content in their feeds on less censored social media platforms like Gab and X.

Leaked video of Drake's penis, and Taylor Swift's AI-generated nude photos, are recent examples of how news generation and consumption happen on social media, rendering legacy media irrelevant.

'Taylor Swift' and 'drakevideo' have been trending on social media recently. A video circulating on X this week, purportedly shows rapper Drake masturbating, half nude. The incident comes less than two weeks after the platform temporarily blocked searches for 'Taylor' Swift' following the spread of salacious AI-generated nude images of the pop singer.

The social media company has already taken actions on thousands of posts, according to X spokesperson Joe Benarroch, saying the platform has a “zero-tolerance policy” for the sharing of nonconsensual nude images. He said X is “actively monitoring the situation,” and is “completely committed to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all users.”