Twitter has come under fire for its handling of a post denying the Holocaust. The post, which was a reply to one from the Auschwitz Museum, contained anti-Semitic tropes and appeared to deny the deaths of 1.1 million people in the concentration camp. After initially deciding that the post did not break its rules, Twitter eventually took it down.
Twitter’s policies state that Holocaust denial is prohibited, yet the company initially allowed a post denying the event to stay on the platform. This highlights the problems that arise when a company as influential as Twitter relies on algorithms and a small team to monitor hate speech. Even though the post was eventually taken down, there is still room for improvement when it comes to moderating hate speech on the platform.
Twitter CEO, Elon Musk, has denied claims that hate speech has risen since he took over the platform. He believes that their new approach of “zero tolerance for illegal material” and the de-amplification and removal of ads from offensive posts is working. Unfortunately, research shows that this is not the case. A study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found a “major and sustained spike in anti-Semitic posts”, and the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) suggested that Twitter “fails to act on 99%” of hateful content.
The incident regarding the Holocaust denial post shows that Twitter has a long way to go when it comes to moderating hate speech. Companies like Twitter need to be held accountable for the content that appears on their platforms, and should take immediate action when posts containing hate speech are reported. Twitter has the potential to be a powerful tool for good, but it will only work if hate speech is swiftly and effectively policed.