Elon Musk leaves ‘viciously anti-Semitic’ and Islamophobic posts on X as 98% of hate speech flagged to the site remains online, report finds

• Imran Ahmed accused Elon Musk of creating a ‘safe space for racists’ on X 

Elon Musk is allowing ‘viciously antisemitic’ and Islamophobic posts to remain on X following Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel despite being reported, a report has found.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) said 98 per cent of hate speech related to the conflict it had flagged to the social media giant still remained up on the site seven days later.

The posts, which have been viewed nearly 25 million times, include holocaust denials, claims that ‘Hitler saw Jews for what they were’, and calling Muslims ‘smelly rats’.

Imran Ahmed, the non-profit’s chief executive, accused tech billionaire Musk of creating a ‘safe space for racists’ on the platform.

X, formerly Twitter, has been criticised over the past month for allowing misinformation, graphic violence, and hate speech about the Israel-Gaza conflict to flood the platform.

Elon Musk (pictured) is allowing ‘viciously antisemitic’ and Islamophobic posts to remain on X following Hamas ‘ brutal attack on Israel despite being reported, a report has found

The EU’s digital rights chief warned Musk he could be in breach of the bloc’s strict new digital laws which have been designed to clamp down on such content.

CCDH researchers found 200 ‘hateful’ posts from 101 separate accounts that were published after the October 7 attack on both sides of the debate.

Nearly half of the profiles – 43 in total – were ‘verified’ accounts, meaning they benefit from algorithmic boosts to the visibility of their posts.

Among them were posts glorifying Nazis, promoting conspiracy theories, and inciting violence against Jewish people, while others referred to Palestinanians as ‘animals’ and denied their existence as a people.

The posts were reported to moderators for breaching platform rules via the official reporting tools on Tuesday 31 October. However, only four of the 200 posts were taken down after a week, while just one of the accounts was suspended and a further two ‘locked’.

X, formerly Twitter, has been criticised over the past month for allowing misinformation, graphic violence, and hate speech about the Israel-Gaza conflict to flood the platform

Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the CCDH, said the findings were an ‘inevitable result’ of Musk cutting staff in safety and moderation, allowing previously banned account back on the platform, and increasing visibility for anyone who paid to use the platform.

He said: ‘After an unprecedented terrorist atrocity against Jews in Israel, and the subsequent armed conflict between Israel and Hamas, hate actors have leapt at the chance to hijack social media platforms to broadcast their bigotry and mobilise real-world violence against Jews and Muslims, heaping even more pain into the world.

‘X has sought to reassure advertisers and the public that they have a handle on hate speech – but our research indicates that these are nothing but empty words.

‘Our ‘mystery shopper’ test of X’s content moderation systems – to see whether they have the capacity or will to take down 200 instances of clear, unambiguous hate speech – reveals that hate actors appear to have free rein to post viciously antisemitic and hateful rhetoric on Elon Musk’s platform.

X has been contacted for comment. 

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