www.bbc.com Open in urlscan Pro
151.101.192.81  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

LET US KNOW YOU AGREE TO COOKIES

We use cookies to give you the best online experience. Please let us know if you
agree to all of these cookies.

Yes, I agree

No, take me to settings

BBC Homepage
 * Skip to content
 * Accessibility Help

 * Sign in


 * Home
 * News
 * Sport
 * Reel
 * Worklife
 * Travel
 * Future
 * More menu

More menu
Search BBC
 * Home
 * News
 * Sport
 * Reel
 * Worklife
 * Travel
 * Future
 * Culture
 * Music
 * TV
 * Weather
 * Sounds

Close menu
BBC News
Menu
 * Home
 * War in Ukraine
 * Coronavirus
 * Climate
 * Video
 * World
 * UK
 * Business
 * Tech
 * Science

More
 * Stories
 * Entertainment & Arts
 * Health
 * World News TV
 * In Pictures
 * Reality Check
 * Newsbeat
 * Long Reads

 * Tech


THE HATERS AND CONSPIRACY THEORISTS BACK ON TWITTER

Published
7 hours ago

Share
close panel
Share page
Copy link
About sharing

Image caption,
BBC analysis of over 1,100 reinstated Twitter accounts found hundreds spreading
hate and misinformation
Disinformation team
BBC Monitoring


Hundreds of accounts that were recently allowed back on Twitter have been
spreading abuse or misinformation, a BBC investigation has found.

In exclusive research, BBC Monitoring analysed over 1,100 previously banned
Twitter accounts that were reinstated under new owner Elon Musk.

We found evidence of problematic content posted on the platform in over a third
of them.

Mr Musk says he is a "free speech absolutist". In November, he announced a
"general amnesty" to suspended accounts that had "not broken the law or engaged
in egregious spam".

Twitter's rules prohibit violence, direct attacks and threats towards others on
the basis of, for example, race, sexual orientation and gender, as well as
slurs, tropes or other content that intends to "dehumanise, degrade or reinforce
negative or harmful stereotypes".

The site also claims to take a "zero tolerance" approach towards any material
that features or promotes child sexual exploitation.



However our research indicated a number of the reinstated accounts appear to be
breaking these rules.

 * Nearly 190 accounts in our dataset were promoting hate and violence,
   including depictions of rape as well as abuse directed at women and the LGBT
   community
 * We also found a small number of accounts containing drawings that appear to
   show child sexual exploitation
 * We additionally found over 270 accounts that have spread misinformation,
   mainly about elections and Covid vaccines. However, not all such content
   would violate Twitter's existing rules.


Image caption,
Twitter says its rules still prohibit hateful, abusive and violent content, and
the site takes a "zero tolerance" approach towards child sexual exploitation

We limited our data set to accounts reinstated between 27 October 2022 - the
first day of Mr Musk's takeover - and January 10, only including profiles with
over 10,000 followers.

These accounts are just a portion of the thousands that have been allowed back
on Twitter in recent months.

To identify problematic content, we used a combination of keyword searches and
manual analysis of dozens - and at times hundreds - of posts on each account in
our dataset. Where possible, we also noted known reasons for previous
suspensions.

So what types of accounts are back from Twitter jail?


THE MANY FACES OF HATE


Image caption,
Returning Twitter accounts included those spreading hate towards women

Among the Twitter returnees in our dataset there were accounts with a history of
making misogynistic comments.



One well known to many is Andrew Tate, an online influencer who's previously
said women should bear some responsibility for being raped. He's currently
detained in Romania as part of a human trafficking and rape investigation.

Since being reinstated his following on the platform has ballooned - going from
150,000 in November 2022 to five million currently.

Among some lesser known users promoting misogyny was one who said he knows a
woman is "fine" when he wants to beat her up. Another, after being allowed back,
posted a video depicting a rape.

A group repeatedly targeted was the LGBT community.

We saw tweets disparagingly referring to them as "sick humans", "groomers" and
"paedophiles".

Imran Ahmed, from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), says his
organisation has seen an increase in hateful terminology towards women and LGBT
groups since Mr Musk took over Twitter, as well as racist slurs.



He claims that by not adequately reviewing all the suspended accounts before
allowing them back on Twitter, "what [Musk] has done is essentially turn on the
fire hose, allowing hate and disinformation to flood the platform".

Perhaps the most disturbing findings from this investigation were two accounts
with images depicting child sexual abuse.

They weren't real-life pictures, but drawings.

We reported this content to Twitter, who have since suspended one of the
accounts and removed a problematic image from another.

Yet a few weeks ago we found and reported through Twitter's own site yet another
account posting similar images.

At the time of writing, the account was still active.


THE RETURN OF ELECTION DENIERS


Image caption,
The "stop the steal" hashtag has been widely used by election deniers in the US

Over a hundred accounts in our dataset spread false and misleading claims about
elections and their outcome.

For instance, some users incorrectly suggested former President Jair Bolsonaro
had won both rounds of the presidential vote in Brazil.

Others wrongly claimed that Donald Trump "won by a landslide" in the 2020
presidential election in the US.

Some of the Trump supporters even celebrated their return to Twitter with posts
echoing false election claims.

Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and one of the biggest proponents of the bogus
theory that the 2020 election was influenced by fraud, tweeted: "I'm back!!
Thank you @elonmusk and by the way melt down the electronic voting machines and
turn them into prison bars!"

Twitter says it may label or remove false or misleading information about
elections and their outcome.

At the time of writing, none of the posts we saw spreading such claims about
elections have been labelled.


FALSE VACCINE CLAIMS GOING UNCHECKED


Image caption,
Twitter stopped enforcing its Covid-19 misinformation policy in November,
allowing some anti-vaxxers to return

In November, Twitter stopped enforcing its Covid misinformation policy,
prompting some of the notable spreaders of coronavirus myths and vaccine
misinformation to come back.

Among them were Dr Robert Malone, who has made misleading claims casting doubt
on the effectiveness and safety of Covid vaccines, and cardiologist Peter
McCullough, who has pushed false claims that Covid vaccines are killing large
numbers of people.

Evidence from different independent scientists all over the world, as well as
the experiences of over five billion people, have shown that Covid vaccines are
safe and effective and serious side effects are rare.

We also encountered numerous posts baselessly linking people's "sudden deaths"
to vaccines, and in at least one instance that led to the harassment of a
bereaved parent.

The majority of the reinstated accounts in our data set did not promote outright
misinformation or hateful content. Sometimes it was even unclear why an account
had been suspended in the first place.

Yet for others, the amnesty seems to have been an opportunity to repeat the kind
of behaviour that led to their ban.

At the time of writing, just over a dozen accounts in our dataset of more than
1,100 had been independently resuspended.

We contacted Twitter for comment but they have not replied.

Lead reporting by Kayleen Devlin

Research and analysis by Kayleen Devlin, Adam Robinson, Olga Robinson, Alistair
Coleman, Paul Brown and Shayan Sardarizadeh

Illustrations by Jenny Law


RELATED TOPICS

 * Elon Musk
 * Andrew Tate
 * Fake News
 * Twitter





TOP STORIES

 * UK asylum plan very concerning, says UN official
   
   Published
   2 hours ago

 * Thousands protest at Georgian 'foreign agent' bill
   
   Published
   3 minutes ago

 * Republicans slam Fox News over Capitol riot video
   
   Published
   4 hours ago




FEATURES

 * How cycling carried two sisters out of the Taliban’s reach
   
   

 * What do Cate and Michelle have in common? 16 Oscars facts
   
   

 * The Tokyo mayor battling 'boys' club politics'
   
   
 * 

 * The banned haters back on Twitter - BBC investigation
   
   

 * 'Being vulnerable made me a better photographer'
   
   

 * What is International Women's Day?
   
   

 * India celebrates Holi festival of colours with flair
   
   

 * Europe's little-known, progressive city
   
   

 * Japan’s J-pop predator - exposed for abuse but still revered
   
   




ELSEWHERE ON THE BBC

 * The university that changed the world
   
   

 * 11 of the best films to watch in March
   
   

 * Why scraping burnt toast may be wise
   
   




MOST READ

 1.  1
     Republicans slam Fox News over Capitol riot video
 2.  2
     Musk apologises to Twitter worker over online row
 3.  3
     UK asylum plan very concerning, says UN official
 4.  4
     BBC to speak to Gary Lineker about asylum tweet
 5.  5
     Thousands protest at Georgian 'foreign agent' bill
 6.  6
     Bindi Irwin reveals endometriosis struggle
 7.  7
     Two Americans dead after kidnapping in Mexico
 8.  8
     Ukraine denies reported link to Nord Stream attack
 9.  9
     The Tokyo mayor battling 'boys' club politics'
 10. 10
     What a bird's eye view of Africa reveals







BBC NEWS SERVICES

 * On your mobile
 * On smart speakers
 * Get news alerts
 * Contact BBC News

 * Home
 * News
 * Sport
 * Reel
 * Worklife
 * Travel
 * Future
 * Culture
 * Music
 * TV
 * Weather
 * Sounds

 * Terms of Use
 * About the BBC
 * Privacy Policy
 * Cookies
 * Accessibility Help
 * Parental Guidance
 * Contact the BBC
 * Get Personalised Newsletters
 * Why you can trust the BBC
 * Advertise with us
 * AdChoices / Do Not Sell My Info

© 2023 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read
about our approach to external linking.