Martina Navratilova lashes out at Elon Musk over controversial new 'algorithm tweak' on his social media site

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova accused billionaire Elon Musk of "cooking the books" after the 'X' owner announced changes in his platform days ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration as US President.

Musk announced changes in the algorithm following intense backlash from Trump supporters after he advocated expanding the US H1-B visa program, which allows US companies to onboard specialty workers temporarily.

Musk took over then-Twitter in 2022 for a staggering $44 billion, vowing to enable "free speech" and pledging to end "censorship" on the platform. However, he has banned several major accounts opposing his stance on immigration. Additionally, Trump supporters have also accused Musk of taking away their "verification badges" and monetization without any explanation.

The Tesla CEO, who played a key role in Trump's victory, vowed to go to “war” to defend the H1-B visa program for foreign tech workers amid the backlash. According to Musk, there is "a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America."

"My companies and I would prefer to hire Americans and we DO, so that is MUCH easier than going through the incredibly painful and slow work visa process. HOWEVER, there is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America," he recently posted on his platform.

However, the tech billionaire's critics, including former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, argue that he would exploit the H-1B visa system to hire lower-wage foreign workers rather than upskilling or employing Americans. A large chunk of these workers hail from India and are employed in the tech sector.

Amid the ongoing ruckus, Musk announced a tweak "to promote more informational/entertaining content."

"Our goal is to maximize unregretted user-seconds," he posted on X. "Too much negativity is being pushed that technically grows user time, but not unregretted user time."

Martina Navratilova, a supporter of the Democrat party, who has been highly critical of the Trump-Musk duo, again condemned the Tesla CEO over his alleged hypocrisy. She responded to a comment by senior journalist Josh Marshall, who suggested that Musk's tweaking of the algorithm to filter out negativity might favor the incoming Trump presidency.

Navratilova responded in a sentence, writing:

"Talk about "cooking the books."

Previously, the former World No. 1 tennis player argued that Musk should not get involved in US politics due to "conflicts of interest."

Martina Navratilova slammed Elon Musk for "rigging the system"

Martina Navratilova is highly critical of the Elon Musk-Donald Trump duo Source: Getty

Martina Navratilova often voices her political opinions on the Musk-owned X and is highly critical of the Republican Party and its policies. Recently, she has also turned critical of Musk after the billionaire pledged his allegiance to the Republicans and endorsed Trump for president.

After Trump was declared as the new president, Navratilova lamented that Musk had "rigged the system."

"Elon has rigged the system in a big way," she opined. "Buying twitter was his best investment ever."

In September, the tennis champion accused Musk of betraying the US with his support for Donald Trump.