Right-wing extremists rejoice

X unblocks accounts of the Identitarian movement

Musk recently defended racist and anti-Semitic posts.(Bild: AFP)

The short message service X has decided to offer right-wing extremists a platform. The accounts of the Identitarian Movement (X) have been reactivated. These had been blocked in July 2020 due to violations of the Twitter rules on terrorism or violent extremism.

Twelve days earlier, X had already reactivated the account of Austrian right-wing extremist Martin Sellner, the head of the Identitarian Movement in Austria, which had also been blocked in the summer of 2020.

Significant increase for Sellner
Around 30,000 Twitter users followed the Identitarian Movement Germany before it was blocked in July 2020, while Sellner had almost 40,000 followers. On Thursday, around 54,000 X users followed the activist, who had been banned from entering Germany on Tuesday. The Identitarian Movement, on the other hand, had lost around 5,000 followers on its comeback.

The IB speaks out against multicultural societies and spreads right-wing extremist conspiracy myths. In Germany, the group is monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Sellner recently sparked protests with plans for the mass deportation or displacement of immigrants.

Musk defends lack of moderation
Elon Musk, the owner of the X platform, had previously defended his company's decision not to delete several anti-Semitic and racist posts on the platform in an interview with former CNN presenter Don Lemon, as they were not illegal. He rejected moderation of the content on X. "Moderation is a propaganda word for censorship," Musk said in the interview.

X could be in breach of the European Digital Services Act (DSA) with the new moderation rules put in place by Musk. According to the provisions of the DSA, online companies such as X must offer users improved complaint options and account for the moderation of content. The EU wants to use the DSA to better combat misinformation and hate speech.