This week gave us another clear reminder of how social media platforms continue to act as megaphones for hate.
The official X account of Elmo – yes, that Elmo, the beloved red puppet from Sesame Street – went on a hateful, racist rampage.
Over 600,000 unsuspecting followers were exposed to a deluge of antisemitic, racist, and violent hate speech, posted directly from the verified account. One tweet falsely claimed that Jews “control the world” and even called for their extermination – chillingly hateful rhetoric.
And for far too long, these posts remained live. They spread. They went viral. And only then were they taken down. As of Sunday night, all other erroneous activity, including oddball replies to other users’ comments, had been scrubbed from the account. We can only hope.
This wasn’t a random blip. Just days earlier, X had already come under fire for allowing an explosion of antisemitic conspiracy theories to flourish unchecked. Much of this spike traces back to changes in the platform’s algorithm – and weaker content moderation policies. Hate had done its damage.
“A Rage Casino”: Jon Stewart Nails the Problem
On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart called it what it is: a platform driven not by free speech, but by profitable outrage. His satire hit uncomfortably close to home.
Elmo’s shocking confession?: “It’s true, Elmo wasn’t hacked. It was Elmo. But Elmo was radicalized by the manosphere. Elmo is part of the male loneliness epidemic. You-you-you see, what happened was, Elmo was doing his own research on flu shots. Six hours later, because of the algorithm, Elmo was moderating the QAnon Discord chat and building homemade bombs.”
Yes, it was satire. But the core truth is serious: social media algorithms don’t spread hate by accident – they spread it because it performs.
The more extreme, the more emotional, the more enraging – the better it spreads. –
That’s what makes verified accounts like Elmo’s so dangerous when compromised. They carry built-in credibility. And when that trust is hijacked to push hate – the impact is devastating.
What Can You Do?
Report hate – even disguised as humor. Demand accountability – especially from platforms that profit from the amplification of antisemitic content.
We must work together to ensure that no trusted voice – even a beloved puppet – can be so easily hijacked for hate.
