Since the acquisition of Twitter (now called X) by business magnate Elon Musk, the social-media platform’s verification process has “enhanced” certain antisemitic content. For example, extensive coverage of the trial of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter on X has “also sparked an increase in vile antisemitic rhetoric and attacks against the Jewish community.”
That’s according to a letter that the Secure Community Network, the North American Jewish community’s official security organization, emailed to Musk on Aug. 10 urging better monitoring of antisemitic and violent posts.
Michael Masters, national director and CEO of SCN, noted in the letter that X’s policy on hateful conduct prohibits users from “targeting individuals with content that refers to violent events, and specifically includes the Holocaust.” And yet, the site continues to host accounts that peddle antisemitism and threaten Jewish life, per the letter.
Hashtags like “holohoax” (Holocaust hoax) and “killthejews” drive traffic to “antisemitic and violent content, and accounts previously banned for dangerous rhetoric have unfortunately been reinstated and verified,” Masters wrote.
The social-media platform can and must do better, Masters told JNS.
“The hatred on the site can lead to violence, and X can take several steps to prevent violence, especially by banning and not verifying these vile accounts,” he told JNS.
In the letter, Masters urged Musk to take action and ensure that certain accounts never receive a verified X “Blue” status.
He called out several accounts, including one with 2 million followers, that often mention 14/88, “alphanumeric code” that white supremacists use for “Heil Hitler.” The account also mocks the Holocaust and is “a main contributor” to the practice of putting parentheses around names and pronouns to “alert followers that the tweet is about Jews.”
Masters wrote that “the Jewish community in America is currently facing the most complex and dynamic threat environment in history. [With] the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting back in the news, X should not be a place that hosts and amplifies antisemitic and violent rhetoric.”