Hate speech Twitter accounts took advantage of Israel's war on Gaza to grow four times faster

Last month, a The judge brought a lawsuit by Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, an anti-extremist organization, that claimed the group had financially harmed the company by reporting on the violent and hate speech spread on its platform. The ruling stated in no uncertain terms that Musk and X were trying to punish CCDH for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Following this court victory, the agency is sounding the alarm once again about X's lack of reasonable moderation, releasing another trove of data showing how 10 toxic influencers have taken advantage of Israel's months-long siege of Gaza, rapidly expanding their audience and raising money by spreading anti-Semitic and Islamophobic content. CCDH found that these accounts, which together gained 4 million new followers since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants, grew four times faster in the months following the attack than in the months immediately preceding. All have benefited from the algorithmic boost that comes with paid blue check verification, and despite repeated violations of community guidelines, none have been suspended.

“None of the accounts deserved the massive exposure they cynically received, upsetting and terrorizing others into emotional reactions,” writes Imran Ahmed, CEO of CCDH, in an introduction to the new report, titled “Hate Pays: How X accounts they are exploiting the Israel-Gaza conflict to grow and profit.” Ahmed adds that the harshest critics of influencers have also given them greater reach and exposure because “even 'negative' engagement counts as engagement on social media platforms, increasing their appeal to the algorithms that control which content is promoted on timelines and what no”.

The result, Ahmed warns, is “a race to the bottom of hate and sensationalism with the most profitable advertising alongside it.” Indeed, CCDH research shows that a number of major advertisers, from Oreos to the National Basketball Association and Starlink (owned by Musk's SpaceX) display their advertising material near hateful posts, despite X's assurances of brand safety and the promise that ads won't “serve around potentially objectionable content.” X did not respond to a request for comment on the NGO's findings.

Rolling rock had previously cited several influencers tracked in the CCDH report who used nominal support for Palestine as a cover for spreading anti-Semitic content, including Ryan Dawson, once banned from the platform but reinstated under Musk, and his former campaigner UFC, Jake Shields, who together openly engages in Holocaust denial at X. Others quick to exploit the carnage in Gaza to demonize Jews included self-proclaimed “rabid anti-Semite” Keith Woods, who is known to have welcomed white nationalist Nick Fuentes to his YouTube show. anonymous account @CensoredMen, which originally existed to support misogynist manosphere celebrity Andrew Tate as he faces charges of rape and human trafficking in Romania. and Jackson Hinkle, a prolific purveyor of disinformation whose account amassed an astonishing 2 million followers in the four months following the October 7 attacks.

The second largest account in this latest analysis belongs to Dr. Anastasia Maria Lupi, based in Denmark, with 1.2 million followers. She infuses her anti-Vax content with a heavy dose of anti-Semitism, repeatedly implying that mass vaccination is the agenda of a powerful group of Jews that control national and global institutions. But since the outbreak of war in the Middle East, it has mostly shifted from arguments against pandemic security measures to posts about Israel and Palestine, garnering massive engagement as a result. Like Hinkle, Dawson, Shields and @CensoredMen, he has enabled the premium “subscription” feature, allowing fans to pay a monthly fee for additional exclusive content.

Of course, anti-Muslim influencers have also been rewarded. One is Dr. Eli David, an Israeli computer scientist and co-founder of healthcare and cyber security companies. He too has, in the past, been steeped in the Covid-19 conspiracy, but is now tweeting his support for Israel, likening the Palestinians to rats and warning that Europe is being taken over by Muslims and “jihadists”. Similarly, @RadioGenoa — not affiliated with any Italian radio station — is publishing misinformation to stoke fear of alleged invasion of Europe by Muslim immigrants. The two accounts have nearly 600,000 followers each, a significant percentage of those gained since October 7.

The last two hate-fueled feeds CCDH studied were “Way of the World,” a racist equal-opportunity account just as likely to post offensive memes about Black people the Jewsoften while arguing against immigration, and the narrative of failed US Senate candidate Sam Parker, who has shared conspiratorial content about a race of Jews he is supposed to rule the worldand invoked the principle that the Rothschild banking family is at the top of this secret organization.

“It is clear from the results of a series of studies by CCDH and others that X's new leadership has not discouraged antisemites, but has effectively welcomed them and the accounts that seek to spread hatred,” the report concludes. “The increase in followers and reach of the accounts identified in this report is, we believe, a direct result of policy changes made under owner, Elon Musk, and CEO, Linda Yaccarino.”

Musk hasn't just allowed anti-Semitism, though, as he sometimes indulges in such rhetoric himself, once encouraging followers to follow an anti-Semitic account for updates on the Gaza war and essentially endorsing ideas similar to the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory. ”, many versions of which the Jews deliberately orchestrated the mass immigration of non-white populations to the West.

Overall, the report paints a grim portrait of a platform that “fails to live up to its duty to keep users safe,” encouraging hate speech with the rewards of increased engagement and profit, while continuing to serve ads alongside harmful and infringing material. X's own policies, but is not removed when mentioned. In fact, these accounts are also eligible for ad sharing revenue based on organic impressions on promotions that appear in responses to their extremist and racist posts.

“Titles for hate and lies,” Imran Ahmed writes about social media in the summary of this research. “Those who preach tolerance and goodwill have to skate uphill to keep up.” And in his time as the owner of X, Musk has done nothing to reverse that dynamic—quite the opposite. In the absence of any corporate responsibility, CCDH can only recommend that regulators and lawmakers demand accountability and transparency, while advertisers and users can reconsider whether they want any part of this destructive online economy.

Musk, meanwhile, can complain about this damning assessment all he wants, as he usually does when the vast amount of malign discourse about X is laid out in the starkest terms. The only difference is that this time, he probably won't bother to start a frivolous lawsuit over it.