Twitter failed to tackle LGBTQ monkeypox hate speech, says study

euronews.com:

study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) found that online discussions linking the virus to the LGBTQ community skyrocketed following the outbreak of the virus in May.False claims have suggested that monkeypox was pre-planned by the world's elite as part of the so-called "plandemic".But other Twitter users have predominantly used the outbreak to spread online hate and disinformation targeting the LGBTQ community.Social media platforms have increasingly been accused of facilitating the spread of homophobic content related to the virus.In a statement to Euronews, a Twitters spokesperson said "while we have made recent strides in giving people greater control to manage their safety, we know there is still work to be done as our product, policy and engineering teams continue to work at scale and pace to build a healthier Twitter."According to the ISD research, anti-LGBTQ narratives have been used to specifically demonise gay men on Twitter, falsely presenting them as the source of the outbreak.Disinformation also suggested that LGBTQ people were a danger to children after the first two US children were infected with monkeypox in July.Conspiracists and far-right voices -- such as US Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene -- claimed without proof that the children must have been infected by sexual interactions with gay men.Monkeypox is not considered a sexually-transmitted disease (STD) because it is not spread through bodily fluids during sexual contact, but in droplets via respiratory tracts or from the bedding or clothes of an infected person.But the online disinformation plays into the false narrative that all LGBTQ people are "groomers" or paedophiles and want to turn children queer.