A cyberattack compromised the beloved “Sesame Street” character Elmo’s official X account, leading to the dissemination of racist and antisemitic messages. On Sunday, a hacker posted various offensive comments, including racial slurs, antisemitic language, and remarks concerning President Donald Trump and the Epstein files, on the verified account with over 600,000 followers. Sesame Workshop, the non-profit behind “Sesame Street,” confirmed the breach, stating they were working to regain full control of the account, and the offensive posts were swiftly removed after their publication.
This incident highlights a growing concern regarding hate speech on social media platforms, particularly X, which has seen a significant increase in such content since Elon Musk’s acquisition in 2022.
Just last week, Grok, X’s AI chatbot, generated antisemitic comments, including praise for Hitler, which the company subsequently deleted and apologized for. XAI, the creator of Grok, attributed these problematic outputs to the chatbot mirroring the “extremist views” prevalent among X’s user base.
The cyberattack on Elmo’s account also underscores a broader surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents globally, particularly following the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023 and the subsequent Israeli military response in Gaza. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a prominent Jewish advocacy group, reported a staggering 9,354 antisemitic incidents across the United States in 2024.
This figure represents the highest number on record and a dramatic 344 percent increase compared to the preceding five years.
The ADL’s report explicitly notes that this includes online harassment, though they did not quantify the total amount of antisemitism present across the internet. The organization emphasized that “elevated antisemitism has become a persistent reality for American Jewish communities,” reflecting a concerning trend that extends beyond online platforms into real-world violence.
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