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'Monetizing hate': Unease as misinformation swirls on Twitter

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Anuj Chopra, Agence France-Presse 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="An exterior view of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California, US, Feb. 27, 2023. John G. Mabanglo/EPA-EFE/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/03/29/20230329-twitter-hq-via-epa-efe.jpg"/><figcaption>An exterior view of Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California, US, Feb. 27, 2023. John G. Mabanglo/EPA-EFE/File</figcaption></figure></div>WASHINGTON — When the iconic US diaper company Huggies was swamped with false pedophilia allegations last month, the conspiracy was traced to a once-banned influencer reinstated to Twitter by Elon Musk.The Tesla tycoon bitterly denies that misinformation has surged since his turbulent $44 billion acquisition of the messaging platform, but experts say content moderation has been gutted after mass layoffs, while a paid verification system has served to boost conspiracy theorists.Adding to the turmoil, the self-proclaimed free speech absolutist has restored what one researcher estimates are over 67,000 accounts that were once suspended for a myriad of violations, including the incitement of violence, harassment and misinformation.Among those reinstated is Vincent Kennedy, a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy movement who was banned from Twitter after the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/06/15/21/fbi-warns-that-qanon-followers-could-engage-in-real-world-violence">FBI warns that QAnon followers could engage in &#x27;real-world violence&#x27;</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/02/22/health-workers-sound-alarm-over-filipino-qanon-queen-of-canada">Filipino QAnon &#x27;Queen of Canada&#x27; causes harm to followers; health workers sound alarm</a></li></ul>Kennedy, according to the advocacy group Media Matters, launched a conspiracy theory in late March that left the Huggies diaper brand fighting off extraordinary pedophilia accusations.He posted a picture of a Disney-themed diaper featuring Simba, a character from &quot;The Lion King,&quot; and circled triangles and spiral swirls that were part of the design.This was to illustrate a widely debunked conspiracy theory that the shapes are recognized by the FBI as coded signals used by pedophiles. &quot;Once you truly awake you ain&#x27;t going back to sleep,&quot; Kennedy wrote in the tweet that garnered millions of views.The conspiracy theory spread like wildfire to other platforms like TikTok. Huggies, which is owned by Kleenex-owner Kimberly-Clark, then faced an avalanche of hate messages and calls for a boycott.Huggies sought to douse the flames, writing in a direct response to Kennedy&#x27;s tweet that its designs were nothing more than &quot;fun and playful&quot; and that it takes &quot;the safety and well-being of children seriously.&quot;But conspiracy theorists jumped on the response to further amplify the false claim.<div>&#x27;REAL-WORLD HARM&#x27;</div>&quot;Anecdotally, there&#x27;s no doubt that the flood of toxic content from repeat offenders Elon has re-platformed is driving real-world harm,&quot; Jesse Lehrich, cofounder of the advocacy group Accountable Tech, told AFP.&quot;When you reinstate the architects of the Jan. 6 insurrection as democracy teeters on the brink, when you give a massive platform to notorious neo-Nazis amidst a surge in anti-Semitism, when you re-platform influential purveyors of medical disinformation in the middle of a pandemic, there are going to be real-world consequences.&quot;Travis Brown, a software developer based in Berlin, has compiled an online list of more than 67,000 restored Twitter accounts since Musk&#x27;s takeover in late October. Brown told AFP that the list was incomplete and the actual number of restored accounts could be higher.In a recent BBC interview, Musk pushed back at allegations that misinformation and hateful content were seeing a resurgence since his takeover.He accused the interviewer of lying. &quot;You said you see more hateful content, but you can&#x27;t even name a single one,&quot; Musk said.Experts AFP spoke to named dozens of examples –- including posts by anti-vaccine propagandists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists.After his account was restored, election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell called on his followers to &quot;melt down electronic voting machines&quot; and use them as prison bars.Anti-LGBTQ+ narratives –- including the false claim that the community &quot;grooms&quot; children –- have spiked on the platform, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).One key driver of the &quot;grooming&quot; narrative, the group said, is conspiracy theorist James Lindsay, whose account was recently restored after previously being banned permanently.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/01/09/23/second-coming-of-conspiracy-theorists-after-twitter-amnesty">Second coming of once-banned conspiracy theorists after Twitter amnesty</a></li></ul><div>&#x27;HATEFUL RHETORIC&#x27; </div>&quot;The reinstatements increase hateful rhetoric across the platform, creating a culture of tolerance on Twitter -- tolerance to misogyny, racism, anti-LGBTQ tendencies,&quot; Nora Benavidez, from the nonpartisan group Free Press, told AFP.Imran Ahmed, chief executive at CCDH, said &quot;Twitter is monetizing hate at an unprecedented rate.&quot; Just five Twitter accounts peddling the &quot;grooming&quot; narrative generate up to $6.4 million in annual advertising revenue, according to CCDH&#x27;s research.But experts say the strategy is counterproductive as that can hardly offset lost advertising revenue.The chaotic shake-up under Musk has scared off several major advertisers. Twitter&#x27;s ad income will drop by 28 percent this year, according to analysts at Insider Intelligence, who said &quot;advertisers don&#x27;t trust Musk.&quot;As an alternative, Musk has sought to boost income from a verification checkmark, now available for $8 in a program called Twitter Blue. But dozens of &quot;misinformation super-spreaders&quot; have purchased the blue tick and are inundating the platform with falsehoods, according to the watchdog NewsGuard.&quot;Musk reinstated accounts to make money and to adopt what he believes, misguidedly, is some &#x27;equal free speech&#x27; mindset -- ignoring that the (policy) makes Twitter a platform which rewards violent language with visibility,&quot; Benavidez said.&quot;This chills speech and engagement rather than furthers it.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/04/11/23/twitter-ad-revenue-to-plummet-28-pct-in-2023-forecast">Twitter ad revenue to plummet 28 pct in 2023: forecast</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/03/27/23/elon-musk-puts-twitters-value-at-just-20-billion">Elon Musk puts Twitter&#x27;s value at just $20 billion</a></li></ul><div>© Agence France-Presse</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FHG9zjXs1A8?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Experts say content moderation has been gutted after mass layoffs, while a paid verification system has served to boost conspiracy theorists.

'Monetizing hate': Unease as misinformation swirls on Twitter

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'Monetizing hate': Unease as misinformation swirls on Twitter

Anuj Chopra,

Agence France-Presse

Published Apr 17, 2023 09:58 AM PHT

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