[helsinkiandrew]

> But the underlying policies and models are almost entirely missing... Without those, we can't evaluate the behavior and possible effects of "the algorithm

And neither can spammers find and test the cracks and edge cases that would allow them to break the system, that does sound reasonable to me. If they were public there would be an arms race between spammers/those wishing to game the system and Twitter engineers.

[ivalm]

Then don’t pretend to release “the algorithm.”

[helsinkiandrew]

They’re explaining how it works without giving the specifics. Much like the US military explains how the nuclear deterrent works without disclosing detailed plans and control codes.