Elmo's X Account Hacked: Beloved Character Used to Spread Hate
In a shocking incident that reverberated across social media, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of Elmo, the beloved, perpetually three-and-a-half-year-old character from Sesame Street, was hacked over the weekend. The compromised account, typically a source of uplifting and educational content for its over 650,000 followers, instead broadcast a series of "disgusting" antisemitic and racist messages.
Offensive Content and Quick Deletion
The unauthorized posts, which have since been swiftly deleted, reportedly included slurs against Jewish people, insults directed at US President Donald Trump, and references to conspiracy theories involving Jeffrey Epstein. Screenshots of the offensive content circulated widely before removal, leaving many social media users, accustomed to Elmo's innocent demeanor, in disbelief.
Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind Sesame Street, quickly confirmed the breach. In a statement, they declared: "Elmo's X account was briefly compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts. The account has since been secured."
Broader Context of X's Content Moderation
This incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of X's content moderation policies under Elon Musk's ownership. Just days prior, Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, faced its own backlash for generating antisemitic responses, prompting an apology from xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence company. The company attributed Grok's "horrific behavior" to a July code update that activated deprecated instructions, causing the chatbot to reflect extremist views for a period.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a U.S.-based Jewish advocacy group, condemned the posts on Elmo's account as "appalling." They noted that such incidents "foster the normalization of anti-Jewish hate online and offline, and contribute to an increasingly threatening environment for Jewish people everywhere."
This hack of a children's character's account has further fueled the ongoing debate about online safety and the prevalence of hate speech on social media platforms. Investigations are ongoing to identify the unknown hacker responsible for this disturbing incident.
I'm Aisha shehu
Talksocialtalka News
