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X account suspensions for hateful conduct have risen five-fold under Elon Musk. The social media site has released its first transparency report since 2021, when Twitter was called Twitter and the idea of Musk buying it was more meme than reality. From January to June, more than a million accounts were suspended for abuse, harassment or hateful conduct, compared with roughly 187,000 in the first half of 2021. This increase seems to belie the idea that Musk is operating X as a free speech fiefdom, though it’s unknown how many accounts were reported but not acted on, so the new numbers could also reflect an explosion of hate. Researchers previously identified a sharp rise in antisemitic posts and racial slurs in the fortnight after Musk took over the site.
Musk publicly rails against government censorship, but the transparency report suggests he is a softer touch in private: X complied with 70 per cent of government requests for content removal.
In 2021, it complied with just over half. Isedua Oribhabor from the advocacy group Access Now told the WaPo that X’s willingness to cede to government requests was a “cause for concern”.
The apparent resolution of a feud between X and Brazil may also worry free-speech absolutists. Last week company lawyers said that X had complied with previously defied court orders.
Musk has repeatedly attacked the Supreme Court justice who issued the orders, calling him Brazil’s Darth Vader and a “dictator”. He said nothing on the night his company backed down.
