Elon Musk officially acquired Twitter on October 27 and tried to reassure advertisers and civil rights leaders that the platform wouldn’t “become a free-for-all hellscape” and would “continue to combat hate & harassment.” 

Despite these assurances, Musk quickly started reinstating previously banned accounts, including those of high-profile right-wing users such as former President Donald Trump. Notably, Musk has also reinstated at least two accounts — those belonging to anti-LGBTQ figure James Lindsay and right-wing satire site Babylon Bee — that previously violated the platform’s rules against hateful content. 

Prior to Musk’s acquisition, Twitter’s policy against hateful content applied to the term “groomer” when it was used as a descriptor in the context of discussion of gender identity. Right-wing figures, including Lindsay, repeatedly violated this policy, using the slur to harass LGBTQ people. The Babylon Bee was suspended in March after repeatedly misgendering U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine.

Media Matters analyzed Twitter data from the Dewey Square Group (sourced via the Twitter API) and found that since being reinstated, Lindsay earned over 1,700 retweets on his posts perpetuating the anti-LGBTQ “groomer” slur, and he has been mentioned in over 4,700 tweets mentioning the slur. The Babylon Bee has similarly adopted the anti-LGBTQ slur and earned nearly 1,600 retweets on its “groomer”-related posts, and it has been mentioned in over 1,700 related posts.

Further analysis of the data compared tweets mentioning the anti-LGBTQ slur (“groomer” or “grooming”) during the two months before (September 27 through October 27) and after (from October 28 through November 28) Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. We found that retweets of right-wing figures’ tweets that included the slur increased substantially, as did mentions of right-wing figures in tweets containing the slur.

Anti-LGBTQ accounts and figures including Libs of TikTok, Matt Walsh, and Christopher Rufo; prominent conservative politicians such as Reps. Mayra Flores (R-TX), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott; and right-wing media outlets and personalities Tomi Lahren, Charlie Kirk, the Hodgetwins, Donald Trump Jr., and Fox News all saw significant increases in their mentions in tweets with “groomer” rhetoric during the studied time period. 

For instance, Libs of TikTok saw more than a 600% increase in the mentions, going from nearly 2,000 to almost 14,000, while Flores saw a nearly 6,000% increase, going from nearly 70 mentions to over 4,000.

Tim Pool

Right-wing YouTuber Tim Pool’s main Twitter account, which has roughly 1.4 million followers, saw an increase of over 2,700% for retweets of tweets with the slur, going from over 700 retweets to more than 20,200. Pool also saw an increase of nearly 3,000% in his mentions in tweets containing the slur, going from more than 1,000 mentions to over 31,000.

Jack Posobiec

Neo-Nazi collaborator Jack Posobiec’s account, which has roughly 1.9 million followers, saw an increase of over 2,800% for retweets of tweets with the slur, going from over 400 retweets to nearly 11,700. Posobiec also saw an increase of over 1,500% in his mentions in tweets containing the slur, going from more than 800 mentions to over 13,300.

Jake Shields

MMA fighter Jake Shields’ account, which has roughly 270,000 followers, saw an increase of more than 9,500% for retweets of tweets with the slur, going from over 60 retweets to more than 5,800. Shields also saw an increase of over 8,000% in his mentions in tweets containing the slur, going from more than 80 mentions to over 6,500.

Gays Against Groomers

Anti-LGBTQ account Gays Against Groomers, which has roughly 140,000 followers, saw an increase of nearly 300% for retweets of tweets with the slur, going from nearly 1,500 retweets to over 5,700. Gays Against Groomers also saw an increase of over 300% in its mentions in tweets containing the slur, going from more than 1,900 mentions to over 7,700.

Blaire White

Right-wing YouTuber Blaire White’s Twitter account, which has roughly 465,000 followers, saw an increase of 3,300% for retweets of tweets with the slur, going from nearly 50 retweets to almost 1,600. White also saw an increase of over 2,500% in her mentions in tweets containing the slur, going from nearly 80 mentions to over 2,100.

Allie Beth Stuckey

Anti-LGBTQ podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey’s account, which has roughly 390,000 followers, saw an increase of over 80,000% for retweets of tweets with the slur, going from 1 retweet to over 800. Stuckey also saw an increase of over 2,500% in her mentions in tweets containing the slur, going from nearly 40 mentions to over 900.

Andy Ngo

Far-right grifter Andy Ngo’s account, which has roughly 1 million followers, saw an increase of  over 70% for retweets of tweets with the slur, going from nearly 500 retweets to over 800. Ngo also saw an increase of more than 50% in his mentions in tweets containing the slur, going from nearly 800 mentions to nearly 1,200.

Seth Dillon

Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon’s account, which has roughly 500,000 followers, saw an increase of over 120% for retweets of tweets with the slur, going from over 360 retweets to over 800. Dillon also saw an increase of more than 160% in his mentions in tweets containing the slur, going from nearly 500 mentions to over 1,200.

Mike Cernovich

Rape apologist Mike Cernovich’s account, which has roughly 1 million followers, saw an increase of roughly 66,000% for retweets of tweets with the slur, going from 1 retweet to over 660. Cernovich also saw an increase of over 700% in mentions in tweets containing the slur, going from nearly 120 mentions to over 1,000.

LGBTQ accounts have also seen an increase in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric targeted against them, including their mentions in tweets with the “groomer” slur — with one account seeing an increase of over 225,000% after Musk officially acquired the platform.