Hate Speech’s Rise on Twitter Is Unprecedented, Researchers Find

Twitter Takeover Who Is Paying for Twitter? Inside the Takeover Twitter’s Essential Workers Download Your Twitter Data Hate Speech’s Rise on Twitter Is Unprecedented, Researchers Find Problematic content and formerly barred accounts have increased sharply in the short time since Elon Musk took over, researchers said.

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1.3K Read in app Elon Musk, who took over Twitter in October, has described himself as a “free speech absolutist.” Elon Musk, who took over Twitter in October, has described himself as a “free speech absolutist.” Credit...Carina Johansen/NTB, via Reuters By Sheera Frenkel and Kate Conger Sheera Frenkel writes about misinformation and social media platforms. Kate Conger reports on Twitter and Elon Musk.

Dec. 2, 2022 Updated 2:16 p.m. ET Before Elon Musk bought Twitter, slurs against Black Americans showed up on the social media service an average of 1,282 times a day. After the billionaire became Twitter’s owner, they jumped to 3,876 times a day.

Slurs against gay men appeared on Twitter 2,506 times a day on average before Mr. Musk took over. Afterward, their use rose to 3,964 times a day.

And antisemitic posts referring to Jews or Judaism soared more than 61 percent in the two weeks after Mr. Musk acquired the site.

These findings — from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the Anti-Defamation League and other groups that study online platforms — provide the most comprehensive picture to date of how conversations on Twitter have changed since Mr. Musk completed his $44 billion deal for the company in late October. While the numbers are relatively small, researchers said the increases were atypically high.

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by Anonymous

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December 2, 2022 11:54 PM

Terrorists and other natsec threats are setting their roots on Twitter again. Incredible how much evil America tolerates from its billionaires:

[Italic]The lack of action extends to new accounts affiliated with terror groups and others that Twitter previously banned. In the first 12 days after Mr. Musk assumed control, 450 accounts associated with ISIS were created, up 69 percent from the previous 12 days, according to the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank that studies online platforms.

Other social media companies are also increasingly concerned about how content is being moderated on Twitter.

When Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, found accounts associated with Russian and Chinese state-backed influence campaigns on its platforms last month, it tried to alert Twitter, said two members of Meta’s security team, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The two companies often communicated on these issues, since foreign influence campaigns typically linked fake accounts on Facebook to Twitter.

But this time was different. The emails to their counterparts at Twitter bounced or went unanswered, the Meta employees said, in a sign that those workers may have been fired.