When history unfolds in real time, people reach for their phones. And on Saturday, they reached for X.
CEO Elon Musk said X shattered its own traffic records as users flocked to the platform for real-time updates following the deadly US-Israeli strikes on Iran. He later confirmed that the surge marked the highest usage in the platform’s history, driven by a 24-hour wave of breaking news, reaction, and analysis.
The announcement came after Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, posted that Saturday had been “the biggest day on X in history.” Musk replied with four words: “Highest usage of X ever.”
He later added, “For now,” a hint that the record may not stand for long. Hours later, Bier made a follow-up post on Monday stating: “I would like to issue a correction to my previous post: The biggest day on 𝕏 in history is today.”
Surpassing past milestones
The platform had previously set its all-time usage record on July 15, 2024, logging 417 billion global user-seconds, a figure that had itself eclipsed an earlier benchmark of 76 billion US user-seconds. Saturday’s activity surpassed even that.
No detailed breakdown of the exact peak figures has been released. Still, the spike aligns with a familiar pattern: when a major world event breaks, X becomes the default town square for news, reaction, and, inevitably, argument.
This time was no different. Footage of the strikes and Iran’s retaliatory drone and missile attacks on Israel and US military installations across the Middle East spread rapidly across the platform throughout Saturday night and into Sunday. The UAE shut down its airspace amid the chaos, adding another layer of urgency to an already volatile situation.
Beyond the breaking news, the platform quickly became a battleground for political debate, much of it centered on who deserves credit and who deserves blame.
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Ongoing scrutiny and platform pressures
The record-setting surge comes at a complicated moment for X.
Since Musk’s 2022 takeover, the platform has faced advertiser pullbacks, regulatory scrutiny, and ongoing questions about brand safety and content moderation. Major brands have periodically paused spending over concerns about harmful or polarizing content appearing alongside ads, testing the company’s revenue stability.
The controversies peaked in recent months, as Musk’s AI generator, Grok, has been embroiled in controversy.
X has also drawn attention from regulators in the US and Europe over how its algorithms recommend content and handle misinformation, particularly during major global events. Critics argue that the platform’s real-time nature can amplify unverified claims as quickly as verified reporting. Supporters counter that its speed and openness are precisely what make it indispensable when news breaks.
Also read: In February, Paris prosecutors’ raid put fresh pressure on how X’s algorithm recommends content.