After Musk Takeover, Groups Claim Hate Speech on Twitter Now at Alarming Numbers

Online hate speech watchdogs note that Elon Musk's Twitter takeover opened the floodgates for problematic content. As shown in some glaring numbers, tweets containing slurs, racist remarks, and more skyrocketed on the platform.

In the short time since Elon Musk took over Twitter in late October 2022, hate speech actors mobbed the platform as if someone invited them to a party. Data from the advocacy group CounterHate tells us that racist tweets and retweets in the first entire week under Musk's ownership tripled the 2022 average. Meanwhile, transphobic comments also saw an all-time high.

Since the change of leadership at Twitter, experts have been concerned that Musk is unprepared for the challenges of running a social media network. But experts say that these numbers are likely to increase further soon.

If that were to occur, according to the New York Times, it is unknown whether Mr. Musk would have policies in place to deal with harmful speech or, even if he did, if Twitter would have the staff to maintain moderation.

Much of this can be ascribed to Musk's moves like restricting internal access to content moderation tools, sacking half of the Twitter team, and then asking some of them to return to work.

Hate Speech on Twitter

Groups have also observed a rise in antisemitic posts on the site and a decline in the regulation of such postings, which is alarming and is likely to worsen given the rumored employee cuts at Twitter's content moderation team.

Regarding these, Elon Musk asserted that Twitter's "strong commitment to content moderation remains absolutely unchanged" in response to concerns regarding the recent increase in hate speech on the platform. Additionally, he claimed that during several points in his first week as Twitter chief, hate speech dropped "below [our] prior norms."

However, this Twitter-centric hate speech barrage is only a portion of the events after Musk's takeover. According to GNET, while the Twitter CEO was hot on the tails of impersonators who ridiculed the new purchasable blue tick, extremists were waging an impersonation insurgency on the same site.

If this seems wildly unimaginable, Musk had greenlighted the reinstatement of accounts like those of former president Donald Trump who was banished from the platform last year when he said in a tweet that the people who stormed the US Capitol were "patriots."

Another reinstated account was of Ye (formerly Kanye West), who was restricted on Twitter due to antisemitic comments. But less than a week after being back on Twitter, he was once again kicked out after Ye retweeted a clip from one of his interview where he said that he loves Jewish people but also love Nazis. He also posted the swastika image in a separate tweet.

"I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended," the Chief Twit wrote in a tweet on Friday.

Alarming Reality

Reducing social media moderation has always encouraged the propagation of hate and conspiracy. According to Bond Benton, a Montclair professor who studies online extremism, this is especially risky for young individuals using platforms.