Elon Musk—Musk dissolved Twitter's Trust and Safety Council as hate speech surged 500% post-acquisition
In December 2022, Musk dissolved Twitter's Trust and Safety Council, the advisory body responsible for policies on hate speech, child exploitation, and self-harm. This came amid a documented surge in hate speech following Musk's acquisition: the N-word saw a nearly 500% increase in usage in the 12 hours after the ownership transfer, antisemitic tweets mentioning 'Jew' rose fivefold, and anti-Black slurs appeared at nearly 3x the pre-acquisition rate. Homophobic and transphobic slurs rose 52% and 62% respectively, per CCDH research.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content Moderation | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| LGBTQ+ Rights | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Racial Justice | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.572 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Brookings Institution documented hate speech surge on Twitter following Musk's acquisition
Brookings Institution analysis documented the rise in hate speech following Musk's acquisition: N-word usage surged nearly 500% in the first 12 hours, antisemitic content increased fivefold, anti-Black slurs appeared at nearly 3x pre-acquisition rates, and homophobic/transphobic slurs rose 52% and 62% respectively per CCDH research. Musk dissolved the Trust and Safety Council in December 2022.