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    UK: X created a 'staggering amplification of hate' during the 2024 riots
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    UK: X created a ‘staggering amplification of hate’ during the 2024 riots

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    18 Comments

    1. Wagamaga on

      False claims on X (formerly Twitter) spread rapidly after tragic triple murder in Southport, contributing to violent racist riots across the UK.

      Amnesty International’s analysis links X’s design and policy choices to the amplification of content which incited violence against Muslims and migrants.

      ‘One year on, even with the arrival of the Online Safety Act, it appears nothing has changed’ – Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK Chief Executive at Amnesty International UK

      A year after racist riots erupted across England and Northern Ireland following the murder of Bebe King (aged 6), Elsie Dot Stancombe (aged 7) and Alice da Silva Aguiar (aged 9) in Southport, Amnesty International has found that social media platform X played a central role in the spread of false narratives and content which incited violence against Muslim and migrant communities.

      Our analysis of X’s open-source code reveals that the platform’s content ranking algorithms prioritise the type of content that can spread misinformation and hate, with deeply inadequate safeguards to prevent human rights abuses.

      “Our research demonstrates that these design choices significantly exacerbated human rights risks for racialised communities in the wake of the Southport riots– and continues to present a serious human rights risk today,” said Pat de Brún, Amnesty International’s Head of Big Tech Accountability.

    2. Heavy-Hall4457 on

      I mean, welcome to social media?

      Their whole business model is engagement. The more radical, the more engagement, the more money. Hence why chat rooms about daffodils don’t get many clicks.

    3. disordered-attic-2 on

      They are including Hope not Hate’s founder Nick Lowles tweeting fake information too right?

      ….right?

    4. _JR28_ on

      I thought this was common knowledge that since it was bought out the site has become a hot spot for hatred

    5. Uniform764 on

      >’One year on, even with the arrival of the Online Safety Act, it appears nothing has changed’

      Did we think this would fix anything? It’s the epitome of “we have to be seen to do something, this is something”

    6. Biggurlpretender on

      You know the world is full of hate right? We’re surrounded by death, killing, struggle. Are the people who believe Love makes the world go around all doped up on something? Get real people

    8. radiant_0wl on

      I think there’s a reasonable argument for social media accounts to require identify confirmation of their use. People may still use aliases after their real identity been confirmed but i do think misuse the anonymity.

    9. StarskyNHutch862 on

      They really need to start cracking down on this!! I say lock them up and throw away the key! No place for hate in 2025!!! Diversity is OUR strength!

    10. BoringWozniak on

      When are we going to get serious about tackling online hate?

      Our ancestors that lived through two World Wars understood the dangerous of the rise of hate and worked very hard to make sure it never happened again. We lived through an unprecendented period of peace lasting 80 years.

      Now we’ve forgotten these lessons and everything is coming undone.

    11. Ok_Put_8262 on

      I guess the only solution is even stricter online regulation. 🙄 How convenient.

    13. ReallySubtle on

      I can’t stand Amnesty anymore. They are so ideologically charged. Yes, X is very bad at spreading misinformation. But that’s not what this report, or any part of their actions, are about.

    14. AllRedLine on

      I agree that it probably did, it’s fairly common sense to assume that was the case. However, I simply cannot take anything that Amnesty International says anymore seriously and without a gigantic mound of salt.

    15. FoxtrotThem on

      Did it create it, or did it just reflect a society we do not wish to admit is there; furthering the cycle.

    17. limaconnect77 on

      Seen in spades on this r/ now. Lot if it is transparently worded like they’re owed something taken by the ‘hordes’ of non-white and not Christian people apparently assaulting the beaches of this green and pleasant land on a daily basis.

    18. Able_Relative8867 on

      The most surprising thing for me when I visited X recently wasnt even the hate, it was the bots. Wow. I tweeted asking about concert tickets and within 5 minutes my replies were completely swarmed with the same comment from dozens of different accounts.