NYT: Twitter hate speech skyrocketed under Elon Musk

Before Elon Musk acquired Twitter, the microblogging service posted an average of 1,282 discriminatory statements against black Americans per day. After Elon Musk became the owner of Twitter, the number of such statements has grown to 3876 per day. About it informs The New York Times, citing data from a study conducted by several human rights organizations specializing in combating the spread of hate online.

The number of offensive language against Jews or Judaism on Twitter has increased by 61% in just two weeks since Mr. Musk purchased the service, according to the study. In addition, accounts associated with the Islamic State group (recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia) began to reappear in huge numbers. Prior to the sale of Twitter, such accounts were regularly deleted.

According to the NYT, accounts associated with the movement of supporters of conspiracy theories QAnon, which had Twitter in mid-2020, have also gained freedom. announced war. Under the new owner of Twitter, these accounts pay for and receive verified status, which gives them some legitimacy. The authors of the study say they have never seen hate speech, problematic content, and the number of previously banned accounts on a major platform so dramatically increase in such a short period of time. Musk did not respond to a request from the NYT for comment.

Alena Miklashevskaya