MANILA, Philippines – The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) on Tuesday, November 14, said X, formerly Twitter, continued hosting 98% of 200 posts it had reported to the social media service for promoting antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian hate or other hate speech.

The CCDH said in a statement, “Researchers collected a total of 200 hateful posts that were published after Hamas’ attacks on Israel” on October 7. The posts either directly addressed the ongoing conflict, or appeared to be informed by it, and were collected from a total of 101 separate X accounts.

The posts were reported on October 31, and then checked again on November 7. The CCDH found 196 out of the 200 posts were still up after a week.

The remaining posts, according to the CCDH, accrued 24,043.693 views, with only one account suspended, and two accounts “locked.”

The CCDH added that 43 of the 101 accounts in the sample were verified accounts – this means they receive algorithmic boosts to the visibility of their posts.

Fostering hate

According to the CCDH’s study of the content of the posts they reported, the posts touched upon a number of hate-fostering statements.

These included the following:

• Inciting violence against Muslims, Palestinians, and Jewish people
• Stating that “Hitler saw Jews for what they were”
• Claiming that Muslims are “smelly rats”
• Referring to Palestinians in Gaza as “animals”
• Denying and diminishing the Holocaust
• Promoting antisemitic caricatures
• Promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories
• Denying the existence of Palestinians as a people
• Glorifying Nazis and Nazism

On the results of their latest report, CCDH CEO and founder Imran Ahmed said, “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.”

Stifling criticism

X CEO Elon Musk previously sued the CCDH for violating its terms of service and blamed it for a downturn in ad revenue for the social media platform.

At the time, CCDH countered Musk, saying, “Elon Musk’s actions represent a brazen attempt to silence honest criticism and independent research, in the desperate hope that he can stem the tide of negative stories and rebuild his relationship with advertisers.”

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Musk’s restructuring of X has also created problems for social media researchers.

Researchers have canceled, suspended, or changed more than 100 studies about X due to the actions taken by Musk which limit access to the platform, alongside the threat of legal repercussions for critique of X.

Ahmed added in the CCDH’s November 14 statement that the lack of takedowns for hate speech is “the inevitable result when you slash safety and moderation staff, put the Bat Signal up to welcome back previously banned hate actors, and offer increased visibility to anyone willing to pay $8 a month.”

“Musk has created a safe space for racists, and has sought to make a virtue of the impunity that leads them to attack, harass and threaten marginalized communities.”

The full press release, including the methodology of their recent reporting, can be found here. – Rappler.com