How pro-terrorism accounts are circumventing moderation on social media

Terrorist groups operating on social media networks have adopted new techniques to evade content moderation. © Observers

Activity from terrorist organisations operating on Twitter has increased by at least 69% since multibillionaire Elon Musk took over the social network, according to researchers focused on online extremism. But these accounts have had to get creative to circumvent content moderation. From "sock puppet" accounts to coded messages and "broken" text, terrorist organisations have a wide range of new techniques at their disposal. They're putting them to use on Twitter, as well as other platforms like YouTube and Facebook.

Last March, Elon Musk proclaimed himself a "free speech absolutist". On Twitter, he put a poll out to his followers to determine whether they believed that Twitter "rigorously adheres" to the principle of free speech. More than 70% of respondents said "No".