‘Monetizing hate’: Unease as misinformation swirls on TwitterAFP, WASHINGTONWhen 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. Brown said that the list was incomplete and the actual number of restored accounts could be higher. 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). 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 dozens of “misinformation super-spreaders” have purchased the blue tick and are inundating the platform with falsehoods, according to the watchdog NewsGuard.
