X, the Elon Musk-owned platform formerly known as Twitter, did not remove 98 percent of a sample of posts spreading hate related to the conflict in Israel and Gaza, according to a study published Tuesday by the hate-speech watchdog group Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
CCDH researchers reported 200 posts promoting hate speech, including antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian hate, using X’s tools on Oct 31. A week later, 196 of the posts were still hosted on X, according to the report.
The 200 posts reported were all posted after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, and the majority directly addressed the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The posts that remained up accrued more than 24 million views collectively, according to the report.
The 200 posts were published by 101 X accounts. According to CCDH, only one of the accounts was suspended and two of the accounts were “locked,” which meant they were unable to post content until removing the reported posts.
Of the 101 accounts identified in the study, 43 were verified users through X’s monthly subscription platform, according to the report. Users who pay for the X monthly subscription get additional features, including a verified check mark.
Imran Ahmed, the CEO and founder of CCDH, said the report to test X’s content moderation system capacity, “reveals that hate actors appear to have free rein to post viciously antisemitic and hateful rhetoric on Elon Musk’s platform.”
Musk bought the platform last year and has changed policies to roll back content moderation measures and allow users to pay for verification.
“Musk has created a safe space for racists, and has sought to make a virtue of the impunity that leads them to attack, harass and threaten marginalized communities,” Ahmed said.
A spokesperson for X did not respond to a request for comment about the report.
Amid criticism over content about the conflict on X, the company has been touting its community notes feature, which allows users to add notes on posts for context and rate posts on their helpfulness.
X executive Joe Benarroch said in an email Tuesday that X has “taken action on hundreds of thousands of posts in the first month following” the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
“Yesterday we were made aware that the CCDH planned to issue a report evaluating a sample of 200 posts … X has taken action on hundreds of thousands of posts in the first month following the terrorist attack on Israel,” Benarroch said, citing an email sent Friday touting X’s community notes on posts as a way to mitigate misinformation, especially since the attack.
“To ensure the safety of the community, we urge the CCDH to engage with X first. With engagement, we can provide context or ensure that the proper actions have been taken, if necessary,” Benarroch said.
CCDH has published other reports about X and Twitter and faced pushback from the company over its findings.
In August, the company sued CCDH over allegations it improperly gained access to data. CCDH pushed back on the allegations and pledged to keep forward with its mission to hold X and other tech companies accountable.
Updated at 12:06 p.m.