2d ago

Study finds persistent spike in hate speech on X

news.berkeley.edu

Study finds persistent spike in hate speech on X - Berkeley News

Obviously @europe.pub

tfm @europe.pub

2d ago

Study finds persistent spike in hate speech on X

news.berkeley.edu /2025/02/13/study-finds-persistent-spike-in-hate-speech-on-x/

43 comments

Isn’t a “persistent spike” just an increase?
- An increase that never stops increasing.
  
  Who'd have guessed that Musk's promise to "maximize free speech" was just a dogwhistle to allow the worst of society to say all the worst things with no pushback.
  Oh yeah I guess everyone guessed that. None of these fucks cares about "free speech" they want "free speech without consequences specifically for me, but definitely consequences for the speech of people I don't like."
  
  And a rapid one.
- So delighted (probably not the right word, feeling) that this was the top comment when I arrived.
“Persistent spike” isn’t a spike. That’s the status quo.
Well yeah site own by a nazi.
- 100%! I'm sure you're not using it but if you have friends/family still on there urge them to quit using Twitter.
  
  No one I personally know uses it. I quit the moment he bought Twitter.
  
  I don't really hear many talk about social media. But that's because I don't go on anything but this. I definitely don't talk about it in every day conversation either.
In other news, grass is green.
Then it's not a spike, it's a trend. Created by, mostly (hopefully) bots, there to move the overton window and normalise racism and hyper-regressive world views to divide the working class while the rich use us as Cannon fodder for their genocide against our fellow working class. Wankers.
- Its working, horrifyingly. In several communities lately ive seen moderators start to treat violent racism and antisemitism as personal beliefs that do not on their own necessitate banning. This in private progressive leaning communities too. Eugencist christian white nationalism is becoming a normal tolerated ideology to have.
  Instagram is especially bad too. I see a lot of people talking about Twitter, but not enough about Instagram.
Nazi bar doing Nazi bar things.
No shit. Really?
'Persistent spike' is up there with 'vehicle constantly stopping' as a nonsense phrase. :) And this from an educational institution?
- Constantly means habitually. I can't even begin to formulate an apology for persistent spike though.
  
  I'm seeing the more accurate 'vehicle frequently stopping' a lot more these days, so someone twigged to it.
The new analysis contradicts the social media platform’s claims that exposure to hate speech and bot-like activity decreased during Elon Musk’s tenure.
They might both be right. I know my exposure to hate speech and bot-like activity decreased since I stopped engaging with that platform.
I wouldn't say it's a "spike", Bob.
So if you do nothing to prevent a problem, and In fact, actively encourage the problem, it gets worse?
Surprise surprise, when the CEO is a Nazi, Nazis think it's free eats!
X is for nazis. Tell your friends.
- Tesla, too!
- I'd leave it for good if there were non *chan alternatives with anywhere nearly as much hatred and drama
Anyone still on Twitter is fine hanging out in a Nazi bar.
Leaving X(/Twitter) is one of the best thing you can do for your mental health
Study also finds that the sky is blue.
- Study also finds that fire is hot.
Somehow, the most reasonable account on Vichy Twitter is Grok because it’s hard to train an LLM using only data dumbasses wrote.
- Sadly that's going to change. Musk is going to push an update that I suspect will turn Grok into a far-right disinformation parrot or become closer to that. See https://lemm.ee/post/67429541 and https://lemm.ee/post/67216433
  
  He keeps trying. He seems to think that can be done by just putting his thumb on the system prompt, and then we end up with obvious nonsense like that South African white genocide preoccupation. It's fortunate the Musk isn't smart enough to figure out how to do it subtly.
considering the ceo, linda yaccarino, spends all day retweeting conspiracy theories and nazi propaganda i'm not surprised.
- I wasn't aware of this before. No wonder Musk felt comfortable stepping down as CEO, he just appointed a like-minded person.
You just now found out about this?
yall been posting some amazing water is wet science lately.
Will someone tell the 60% bot userbase?
Article Date: February 13, 2025
Numerous studies have reported an increase in hate speech on X (formerly Twitter) in the months immediately following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform on October 27th, 2022; relatedly, despite Musk’s pledge to “defeat the spam bots,” a recent study reported no substantial change in the concentration of inauthentic accounts. However, it is not known whether any of these trends endured. We address this by examining material posted on X from the beginning of 2022 through June 2023, the period that includes Musk’s full tenure as CEO. We find that the increase in hate speech just before Musk bought X persisted until at least May of 2023, with the weekly rate of hate speech being approximately 50% higher than the months preceding his purchase, although this increase cannot be directly attributed to any policy at X. The increase is seen across multiple dimensions of hate, including racism, homophobia, and transphobia. Moreover, there is a doubling of hate post “likes,” indicating increased engagement with hate posts. In addition to measuring hate speech, we also measure the presence of inauthentic accounts on the platform; these accounts are often used in spam and malicious information campaigns. We find no reduction (and a possible increase) in activity by these users after Musk purchased X, which could point to further negative outcomes, such as the potential for scams, interference in elections, or harm to public health campaigns. Overall, the long-term increase in hate speech, and the prevalence of potentially inauthentic accounts, are concerning, as these factors can undermine safe and democratic online environments, and increase the risk of offline harms.
No shit.

43 comments