Elon Musk accused of profiting from tragedy as study finds X rewards hate targeting Israel-Gaza war

Weeks after defeating Elon Musk’s attempt to silence him in court, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), an anti-hate research nonprofit, is back with new research on Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The study builds on previous work examining its impact on online speech, highlighting how policy changes adopted by Musk actively reward hate speech posters with increased reach, engagement and even direct payments via X’s subscription function.

CCDH’s latest research takes the form of a case study examining the growth rates of ten influential accounts that pay X Premium and have posted anti-Jewish and/or anti-Muslim hate speech since the Israel-Gaza conflict sparked by the Hamas attack. on Israel on October 7, 2023. Some accounts turned to hate-war messages after previously posting COVID-19 conspiracy theory content, according to the report.

The ten accounts tracked for the study — titled “Hate Pays: How X Accounts Are Exploiting the Israel-Gaza Conflict to Grow and Generate Profit” — are: Jackson Hinkle; Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis; Men Censored; Jake Shields; Dr. Eli David; Radio Genoa; Ryan Dawson; Keith Wood; Path of the World; and Sam Parker.

The CCDH found that these accounts were able to increase their reach on X after posting hateful content targeting the war. The report examines examples of hate speech posted by the accounts, such as tweets depicting anti-Semitic tropes like blood libel or seeking to dehumanize Palestinians by describing them as rats.

“Each of the accounts showed slow follower growth in the four months leading up to October 7, for a combined growth of approximately 1 million followers. However, in the four months following the outbreak of the conflict, they collectively gained 4 million new followers,” CCDH wrote, saying this represents collective growth nearly 4 times that of the four months preceding the war. .

Growth rates for individual accounts gaining new followers over the period varied, with the highest growth multiple recorded being 9.6 (for Dawson’s account), followed by 8.3 (for Hinkle) and of 7.1 (for Parker). At the lower end, Way of the World grew its subscribers 1.7 times during the period.

The report includes a history of the notoriety of the accounts followed, noting for example that Hinkle is banned by WhatsApp, YouTube and PayPal. Or that the Censored Men (anonymous) account usually posted in defense of toxic masculinity influencer Andrew Tate – but, since October 7, it has focused on the Israel-Gaza conflict. While Dawson, a Holocaust denier who also believes the 9/11 terrorist attacks were carried out by Israel, was previously banned from X, but his account was reinstated in 2023 under Musk.

Since taking over Twitter, as X still was in October 2022, the billionaire has reversed a number of legacy account bans, including welcoming back notorious white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Coupled with policy changes imposed by Musk in areas like content moderation, account verification, and premium features (such as prioritizing posts from paid accounts), the result is a polarizing discourse platform where it’s increasingly difficult to distinguish genuine information from lies, and where the tone of messages too often leans toward conversational outrage (or worse).

The CCDH says this is intentional; a deliberate strategy by Musk to profit from the tragedy. He accuses him of adopting hateful accounts and setting up X so that purveyors of hate speech can and are encouraged to turn war and human suffering into an opportunity to increase their visibility on the service and earn income from publications that exploit violence and misery.

Six of the ten accounts examined have enabled X’s subscription feature, meaning their subscribers can pay them to access additional content. The report also records a message Hinkle in early October when he shared a screenshot in which he appeared to have earned $550 in ad revenue over the course of a month, profiting directly from engagement driven by hateful posts.

In another finding, the CCDH said its analysis of the accounts showed that even critical sharing – such as tweets citing hateful content – ​​increased their visibility and reach (potentially increasing revenue-generating opportunities). . Such critical reposts contributed up to 28% to the reach of hate messages, according to the report, which suggests that this figure is a conservative estimate because it does not take into account X’s own algorithmic response to these reposts, which applies additional amplification aimed at harvesting. even more commitment for advertising profit.

Advertising-supported business models, which generate revenue based on user engagement, are ultimately behind this mechanism of antisocial outrage. In the case of X, Musk’s erratic behavior alienated some advertisers. But not all: the CCDH discovered that advertisements were broadcast alongside hateful messages published by all the accounts followed. “We found ads for Oreos, the NBA, the FBI and even X itself placed near hateful messages,” he wrote.

“Under Elon Musk’s ownership, X appears to be pursuing a strategy of hosting as much controversial content as possible,” a CCDH spokesperson told TechCrunch, responding to questions about the research. “We know that this controversial content is addictive, not only for users who approve of it but also for those who criticize it. The potential upside for

“Accounts studied by our report grew significantly despite posting false or hateful content, showing that posting such content is not a barrier to growth on X. This is not unique to the Israel-Gaza conflict but this is the latest example of the problem. Our previous research into accounts that were reinstated after Musk’s takeover of Twitter shows that Anti-vaccine conspiracies.

Commenting on the report in a statement, Imran Ahmed, CEO and founder of CCDH, added: “The public and advertisers need to know more about the symbiotic and profitable relationship between X and hateful ‘influencers’. Lawmakers must act to impose greater transparency and accountability on the part of platforms and to allow these companies to be held accountable for violations of the civil rights and safety of Jews, Muslims and other minority communities .

Musk has previously claimed that hate speech has decreased under his leadership, but previous CCHR research has refuted this claim.

X is also currently the subject of an investigation in the European Union for a series of alleged violations of the online governance regime and moderation of the block content, in particular because of its response to illegal content – which may include hate speech. Penalties for confirmed violations of the EU Digital Services Act can reach 6% of global annual turnover.