Hundreds of accounts belonging to the “very worst” trolls, previously banned by Twitter, have tried to return to the site following Elon Musk’s offer to take over.
According to an international network of volunteers, quoted by the PA news agency, there has been a recent increase in activity among deplatformed hate groups.
“The worst people on the internet are obviously quite excited about Elon Musk’s Twitter capabilities,” said Sunder Katvala, director of the independent think tank British Future.
Mr Katvala has been working with the volunteer network since he was targeted by a troll on Twitter, who had previously been banned from racist abuse of English footballers.
He told the PA that the apparent excitement among these trolls seemed “at least a little premature”, as Mr Musk did not yet own the platform.
“We still don’t know exactly what he will do when he does. The rules on Twitter are the same as they were, and the application is the same, “he added.
“But obviously there’s a lot of excitement, a little party atmosphere among the worst people on the internet. I think that’s a potential problem.”
Volunteers – who report recreated Twitter accounts – focus on four identified hate groups that are known to promote violence, racism and anti-Semitism.
They seem to have been encouraged by Elon Musk’s statements in support of “freedom of speech” on Twitter, which he described as “the foundation of a functioning democracy.”
In an obvious response to some of this excitement, Mr Musk later clarified: “By ‘freedom of speech’ I mean what is in line with the law.
“I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less freedom of speech, they will ask the government to pass laws in that sense. Therefore, going beyond the law is against the will of the people.”
Mr Katwala said that by effectively promising “if it is legally included”, Mr Musk’s Twitter could challenge the way it handles content in jurisdictions outside the US. Holocaust denial, for example, is illegal in Germany, but not in the United States – although it is socially unacceptable.
Joe Mulhol, director of research at the Hope Not Hate campaign against fascism and racism, told the PA that the mood among the far right was “extremely worrying”.
He said: “A large number of people who have previously been banned from Twitter believe that this is an opportunity to go back. There was a lot of excitement on the far right.
“I definitely think it’s fair to say that some de-platformed people think it was an opportunity to be allowed back and say what they want as a result.
“We don’t know what Elon Musk’s Twitter will look like. We can only go from what he said, but the things he says are worrying. Regulation is the only answer. “
A Twitter spokesman said: “Our top priority is to keep everyone who uses Twitter safe and safe.
“We acknowledge and want to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that Twitter does not become a forum for facilitating abuse, and we continue to explore our own policy approaches and ways in which we can enforce our rules quickly and widely.
“We have clear rules for dealing with threats of violence, abuse and harassment and hate behavior.
“It is also against our policy to circumvent the permanent suspension and we take action when we identify tweets or accounts that violate Twitter’s rules.
Add Comment