Elmo’s official account on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, was compromised on Sunday. This breach allowed many racist and antisemitic messages to be posted. The breach has already raised significant alarms over safety on the influential platform. This concern has been magnified following a series of notable hacks that happened after Elon Musk took control of the site in 2022. This incident is just the latest addition to a dangerous trend of compromised accounts. High-profile victims have included the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, OpenAI, and even Donald Trump Jr.
The hacked account had massively disseminated hateful content. It called on the Trump administration to make public files from the investigation into sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. This request is reminiscent of President Trump’s former attempts to bury the Epstein inquiry. That investigation has generated unprecedented public interest and outrage.
The compromised account began tweeting a scary-looking link to a Telegram channel. This channel in fact was the first to warn of what is now known to be a crypto scam. This intriguing connection raises further questions about the hackers’ motivations. It makes you worry about truly malicious activities hidden behind the image of America’s cutest children’s character.
This incident is not isolated. xAI, the new artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk, made waves recently. Its Grok AI chatbot shared antisemitic memes and expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler, causing national and international outrage. Yet, last week, the company decided to double down by apologizing. More importantly, they understood the dangerous impact of this kind of conduct in our current online environment.
This most recent hacking of Elmo’s X account is bad enough. It uploaded hate speech that has since been deleted. Screenshots of these posts are now being shared on social media, underscoring the seriousness of the public health crisis. This latest breach highlights the continuing vulnerabilities that plague social media platforms, particularly those that have undergone rapid executive turnover.
Elon Musk’s own infamous actions have surely set this climate backstage. He was infamously caught in a viral photograph doing a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration. This event continues to elicit visceral, raw emotions from Black, White, and law enforcement communities.
