X posts reported for hate speech remain online

The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) has reported that 86 per cent of the X posts they reported for extreme hate speech continued to be hosted on the platform.

CCDH reported 300 tweets containing extreme hate to X, and 259 of them remained online.

According to CCDH, these posts promoted and glorified antisemitism, anti-Black racism, neo-Nazism, white supremacy and/or other racism.

There were also adverts for household brands including Apple and Disney appearing next to hate speech.

Some of the posts that were reported included those denying the Holocaust or mocking victims of the Holocaust and posts glorifying the Nazis. There were also posts condemning interracial relationships.

The researchers collected 300 posts from 100 accounts that were identified as containing hate speech. These 100 accounts had 1,060,106 followers between them.

After a week of being reported, 259 of the 300 posts were still on the platform and 90 of the 100 accounts were still active.

According to CCDH every post violated at least one of X’s policies against hateful conduct, which prohibit incitement and harassment of others on the basis of protected characteristics and some posts were also in violation of rules against slurs, dehumanization, hateful imagery and the targeting of others by referencing genocide.

Elon Musk, current owner X, recently threatened to file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation Legue (ADL), as ADL's claims about rising hate speech on the platform, negatively affected advertising revenue.

In July, X Corp also filed a lawsuit against CCDH over its reporting of hate and disinformation on the platform.

Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of CCDH said: "Musk claims to be pro-free speech, yet he has proven incredibly thin-skinned, issuing legal threats when criticized for his botched management of Twitter/ X. It is not free speech but hate speech which has truly prospered in his time at Twitter/ X, emboldened by his interactions with far-right white supremacists and conspiracy theorists. Impunity for loud bigots creates a hostile environment for the victims of abuse and most folks who don’t want to venture into a cesspit of hatred every day."

“Antisemitism is a form of defamation against the entire Jewish people, who have already suffered an unimaginable burden due to hate and lies. While Musk demands immediate legal action for what he claims is defamation against his character, he continues to refuse to be held accountable for the defamation he spreads against all Jews.”

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay