Has Twitter 2.0 under Elon Musk seen a rise in hate speech?

Elon Musk has claimed Twitter has not witnessed a rise in hate speech since he took over the platform.

Responding to a question about the presence of hate speech on Twitter, Musk accused the BBC reporter of lying.

“You don't know what you're talking about… you just lied,” Musk said.

The interview comes just days after it was reported that Twitter faces multi-millions in fines in Germany for not taking down hate speech on the platform.

So, do Musk’s claims hold up?

Let’s take a closer look:

Twitter has claimed its hate speech decreased by around 50 per cent since Musk took over.

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However, as per The Conversation, the immediate aftermath of Musk’s takeover in October 2022 witnessed a ‘surge in hateful conduct’.

While Musk put that down to a “focused, short-term trolling campaign,” the data beg to differ.

As per Brookings, the 12 hours following Musk’s ownership of Twitter witnessed a nearly 500 per cent increase in the ‘n’ word.

Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj

Meanwhile, the Center for Countering Digital Hate said data show the use of the ‘n’ word since Musk took over, on average, has tripled since 2022.

The week after Musk took over, tweet containing the word ‘Jew’ increased five-fold – with the most ‘overly antisemitic’ getting the most engagement, as per Brookings.

The ADL told CNN in December that the situation was troubling and that it would “will likely get worse, given the reported cuts to Twitter’s content moderation staff.”

According to CASM Technology and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Twitter per week averaged 6,204 tweets defined as ‘plausibly antisemitic’ between June and 26 October, 2022.

That seems to have played out – at least the first part.

Between and February, tweets defined as “plausibly antisemitic” averaged 12,762 – a 105% increase, as per The Conversation.

In that period, just 8.5 per cent of the 17,589 antisemitic tweets were taken down.

BBC quoted Institute of Strategic Dialogue as saying that the number of antisemitic tweets increase two-fold from June 2022 to February 2023.

Which shouldn’t be surprising given that one of the first things the self-described free speech absolutist did after taking over Twitter was declare a ‘general amnesty’.

More than 60,000 accounts including many banned for hate speech were restored by Musk.

As per BBC, among them were founder of the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website Andrew Anglin and QAnon conspiracy theorist Liz Crokin.

Speaking to CNN, Imrad Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said Musk had “sent up the batsignal to every kind of racist, misogynist and homophobe that Twitter was open for business, and they have react accordingly.”

“A safe space for hate is a hostile environment to most decent folks,” he added. “By means of comparison, who would want to sit in a cafe or pub where crazies are screaming expletives and bigotry, let alone have the chutzpah to claim that it was democratically-essential debate?”

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that despite some lauding Musk for making Twitter free of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), such content remains on the platform.

Worse, the newspaper reported that the social media platform’s recommendation algorithm was actually promoting some of these images.

The images were taken down only after the company was notified by Canada.

Experts say Twitter has seen a rise in antisemitic tweets and slurs against gay and trans persons since Elon Musk's takeover. AFP

“The volume [of CSAM] we’re able to find with a minimal amount of effort is quite significant,” Lloyd Richardson, the Canadian center’s technology director, told the newspaper. “It shouldn’t be the job of external people to find this sort of content sitting on their system.”

What happened in the interim?

In November, Musk laid off 15 per cent of Twitter’s Trust and Safety team, as per The Verge.

This is the staff that deals with content moderation.

But Musk remains defiant.

“People will say all sorts of nonsense,” Musk insisted, as per Hindustan Times.

With inputs from agencies

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