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 US$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 Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Photo: AFP
Kennedy, according to the advocacy group Media Matters, launched a conspiracy theory in late last month 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 The Lion King, 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.
“Once you truly awake you ain’t going back to sleep,” 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’s tweet that its designs were nothing more than “fun and playful” and that it takes “the safety and well-being of children seriously.”
But conspiracy theorists jumped on the response to further amplify the false claim.
‘REAL-WORLD HARM’
Anecdotally, there’s no doubt that the flood of toxic content from repeat offenders Elon has re-platformed is driving real-world harm,” said Jesse Lehrich, cofounder of the advocacy group Accountable Tech.
“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.”
Travis Brown, a software developer based in Berlin, has compiled an online list of more than 67,000 restored Twitter accounts since Musk’s takeover in late October. Brown said 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.
“You said you see more hateful content, but you can’t even name a single one,” Musk said.
Experts 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 “melt down electronic voting machines” and use them as prison bars.
Anti-LGBTQ+ narratives — including the false claim that the community “grooms” children — have spiked on the platform, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
One key driver of the “grooming” narrative, the group said, is conspiracy theorist James Lindsay, whose account was recently restored after previously being banned permanently.
‘HATEFUL RHETORIC’
The reinstatements increase hateful rhetoric across the platform, creating a culture of tolerance on Twitter — tolerance to misogyny, racism, anti-LGBTQ tendencies,” said Nora Benavidez, from the nonpartisan group Free Press.
Imran Ahmed, chief executive at CCDH, said “Twitter is monetizing hate at an unprecedented rate.” Just five Twitter accounts peddling the “grooming” narrative generate up to US$6.4 million in annual advertising revenue, according to CCDH’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’s ad income will drop by 28 percent this year, according to analysts at Insider Intelligence, who said “advertisers don’t trust Musk.”
As an alternative, Musk has sought to boost income from a verification checkmark, now available for US$8 in a program called Twitter Blue. But dozens of “misinformation super-spreaders” have purchased the blue tick and are inundating the platform with falsehoods, according to the watchdog NewsGuard.
“Musk reinstated accounts to make money and to adopt what he believes, misguidedly, is some ‘equal free speech’ mindset — ignoring that the (policy) makes Twitter a platform which rewards violent language with visibility,” Benavidez said.
“This chills speech and engagement rather than furthers it.”
On the evening of June 1, Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) apologized and resigned in disgrace. His crime was instructing his driver to use a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon. The Control Yuan is the government branch that investigates, audits and impeaches government officials for, among other things, misuse of government funds, so his misuse of a government vehicle was highly inappropriate. If this story were told to anyone living in the golden era of swaggering gangsters, flashy nouveau riche businessmen, and corrupt “black gold” politics of the 1980s and 1990s, they would have laughed.
When Lisa, 20, laces into her ultra-high heels for her shift at a strip club in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, she knows that aside from dancing, she will have to comfort traumatized soldiers. Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, exhausted troops are the main clientele of the Flash Dancers club in the center of the northeastern city, just 20 kilometers from Russian forces. For some customers, it provides an “escape” from the war, said Valerya Zavatska — a 25-year-old law graduate who runs the club with her mother, an ex-dancer. But many are not there just for the show. They “want to talk about what hurts,” she
It was just before 6am on a sunny November morning and I could hardly contain my excitement as I arrived at the wharf where I would catch the boat to one of Penghu’s most difficult-to-access islands, a trip that had been on my list for nearly a decade. Little did I know, my dream would soon be crushed. Unsure about which boat was heading to Huayu (花嶼), I found someone who appeared to be a local and asked if this was the right place to wait. “Oh, the boat to Huayu’s been canceled today,” she told me. I couldn’t believe my ears. Surely,
This is a deeply unsettling period in Taiwan. Uncertainties are everywhere while everyone waits for a small army of other shoes to drop on nearly every front. During challenging times, interesting political changes can happen, yet all three major political parties are beset with scandals, strife and self-inflicted wounds. As the ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is held accountable for not only the challenges to the party, but also the nation. Taiwan is geopolitically and economically under threat. Domestically, the administration is under siege by the opposition-controlled legislature and growing discontent with what opponents characterize as arrogant, autocratic
RSS