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Twitter Isn't Removing Hate Speech From Verified Users

Twitter Isn't Removing Hate Speech From Verified Users
Rokas Tenys / Shutterstock

Twitter Isn't Removing Hate Speech From Verified Users

Twitter has overwhelmingly refused to remove hate speech from subscribers of Twitter Blue, according to a new report.

Twitter has overwhelmingly refused to remove hate speech from subscribers of Twitter Blue, according to a new report.


In a report released Thursday, the Center for Countering Digital Hate gathered 100 tweets containing hate speech from Twitter Blue subscribers, including racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, or transphobic comments.

Such phrases noted in the report included: “Diversity is a codeword for White Genocide," “Hitler was right," “The Jewish Mafia wants to replace us all with brown people," and one saying LGBTQ+ rights activists need “IRON IN THEIR DIET. Preferably from a #AFiringSquad."

Despite reporting them all for violating the platform's terms of service, days later, only one had been removed.

“Twitter failed to act despite the fact that the tweets surfaced by the Center clearly violate the platform’s policies against hateful conduct, which bans abuse on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation and gender identity,” the report reads.

In place of an official verification system, Twitter CEO Elon Musk implemented a Twitter Blue subscription service where users pay $8 monthly to receive a checkmark on their profile. Musk previously said that those posting hate would be “deboosted & demonetized," but the report found that the website's algorithm is instead promoting them due to their subscription status.

“The Twitter blue tick used to be a sign of authority and authenticity, but it is now inextricably linked to the promotion of hate and conspiracism," chief executive of CCDH Imran Ahmed said. "What gives blue tick hate actors confidence to spew their bile is the knowledge that Elon Musk simply doesn’t care about the civil and human rights of black people, Jews, Muslims and LGBTQ+ people, as long as he can make his 8 bucks a month."

He continued: "Our society has benefited from decades of progress on tolerance, but Elon Musk is undoing those norms at an ever-accelerating rate, by allowing hate to prosper on the spaces he administers, all with the tacit approval of the advertisers who remain on his platform.”

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Ryan Adamczeski

Digital Director

Ryan is the Digital Director of The Advocate Channel, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She is also a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics.

Ryan is the Digital Director of The Advocate Channel, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She is also a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics.