The lawmakers allege that slurs against black people have tripled, slurs against women are up by one-third, slurs against gay men are up 58% and slurs against Jewish people are up 61%, citing data from the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
“As Members of Congress, we are deeply concerned about the recent rise in hate speech on Twitter. Analysis by independent researchers indicates Twitter has become an increasingly toxic place for our constituents, and we are reaching out to you to understand the actions Twitter is taking to combat this increase in harmful content,” the letter, sent on Thursday, said.
The congressmen requested Musk provide information on what steps Twitter is taking in response to the purported rise in hate speech, its plans to increase user safety and its content moderation and risk-assessment processes, according to the letter.
However, Musk contests the claims that hate speech has increased on the platform.
“False, hate speech impressions are actually down by 1/3 for Twitter now vs. prior to acquisition,” Musk said in response to a Tweet on the data by Schiff.
Musk, who acquired Twitter in October, vowed to bolster protections for free speech while also maintaining a safe and informative platform.