Twitter Hate Speech Rise ‘Unprecedented’, Researchers Say

A recent rise in hate speech on Twitter has been called “unprecedented” by researchers. 

Findings from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the Anti-Defamation League, as well as other groups that study online platforms show there was a significant increase(Opens in a new window) in hate speech since Musk took over the company in October.

Anti-Black tweets jumped more than 200% from 1,282 times a day before Musk’s takeover to 3,876 times a day now while slurs against gay men rose more than 58% from 2,506 to 3,964 times a day, The New York Times report. Antisemitic posts also increased by more than 61% in the two weeks after Musk completed his takeover of the site.

Researchers said the increases were alarming and atypically high. They added that they had never before witnessed such a sharp increase in hate speech in such a short period on a mainstream social media platform.

Speaking to the Times Imran Ahmed, the chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate said of the findings: “Elon Musk sent up the Bat Signal to every kind of racist, misogynist and homophobe that Twitter was open for business. They have reacted accordingly.”

The company has undergone a shift in its hate speech policy since Musk became CEO. In November, the entrepreneur said(Opens in a new window) that all tweets would be permitted on the site as long as they were legal but that negative/hate tweets would be “max deboosted & demonetized” meaning that such tweets would be hidden from timeline feeds and trending sections unless specifically sought out by users. It’s unclear if these changes have been implemented.

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The self-declared “free speech absolutist” has rankled advertisers who perceive a lax approach to content moderation being taken at the company. According to a Media Matters report(Opens in a new window), Twitter has seen at least half of its top 100 advertisers pull adverts in less than a month. The distancing companies, who have spent $2 billion on ads since 2020 include Chevrolet, Ford, Chipotle, and Jeep.

Twitter’s US ad revenue was reportedly running(Opens in a new window) at 80% below internal projections for the week commencing Nov. 20, according to insider sources speaking to the Times.

In the face of collapsing advertising revenue, Musk has scrambled to appease brands by offering generous incentives to advertise on the site. In one email sent to advertising agencies, seen and reported(Opens in a new window) by the Financial Times, Twitter announced it would award advertisers who spend between $500,000 and $1 million with additional impressions worth the same amount. It’s been reported that Twitter must service(Opens in a new window) at least $1 billion of interest this year after Musk took on billions of debt to complete the purchase.

And in a blog post(Opens in a new window) on Wednesday, Twitter moved further to reassure concerned advertisers by saying that “none of our policies have changed” and that “brand safety is only possible when human safety is the top priority.”

The company’s moderation strategy has been criticized by former employees. Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, said in his first interview(Opens in a new window) since leaving the company, that the company no longer had enough staff for moderation and safety. In further comments, reported by Reuters, he said that he did not feel that Twitter was safer under Musk’s ownership.

Since taking the Twitter helm, Musk has moved to reinstate former President Trump through a Twitter Poll, and brought back Kanye West after his account was restricted for an antisemitic tweet earlier in the year. 

The rapper, also known as Ye, was indefinitely suspended this week after posting an image of a swastika inside the Star of David. In the hours prior to his suspension, West had also posted an unflattering photo showing UFC owner Ari Emanuel hosing down a shirtless Elon Musk on a yacht. The photo, Musk tweeted(Opens in a new window), was not linked to his suspension.