Report exposes X's failure to remove 96% of hate speech posts amid Israel-Palestine conflict
"X is failing to moderate antisemitic and islamophobic hate speech, according to a new report", 15 November 2023
Is X, formerly Twitter, adequately moderating hate speech on its platforms as conflict rages in the Middle East?
A new report from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a non-profit dedicated to countering online misinformation and hate speech, suggests the social platform is falling short in its commitment to combat content "motivated by hatred, prejudice or intolerance".
The organisation reported 200 incidents of hate speech sent from 101 accounts on the platform X that related to the Israel-Palestine conflict and found that 96 per cent of the posts remained online a week later.
According to the CCDH, the posts in question were all sent in the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and included those which incited violence against Muslims, Palestinians and Jewish people, promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories and described Palestinians in Gaza as animals.
The posts that remained online have accumulated 24,043,693 views with only one being suspended and a further two ‘locked’ meaning they cannot post, repost, or like content.
Forty-three of the 101 accounts in question were verified accounts that benefited from the increased visibility of their posts.
The new study follows a similar report by the organisation published in September that analysed a broader range of hate speech on the platform, finding that 86 per cent of 300 selected instances of reported hate speech remained online after a week.
X did not respond to a request for comment on this story.