‘Elmo’ X Account Allegedly Hacked to Share Antisemitic Posts

“Sesame Street” character “Elmo” was reportedly hacked on X Sunday, resulting in a series of antisemitic and offensive posts shared to over 650 thousand followers. The posts – one of which stated, “Kill all Jews.” – have since been removed.

The Details: Hackers allegedly used the account to share messages that included calls for violence against Jews, derogatory comments about President Donald Trump, and demands for the release of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. The posts were a stark departure from the account's typical content, which usually consists of light, motivational messages and images featuring “Sesame Street” characters.

For Context: The posts came a week after “Grok,” X’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot account, was temporarily frozen after it authored various antisemitic posts. They also follow an increase in antisemitic threats in the United States since the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

How The Media Covered It: Coverage of the incident was largely similar across news media, most of which highlighted both the shock value and upset of the posts. Fox News (Right bias) focused more on the reactions – some humorous – from both Republican and Democratic X users. CNN (Lean Left) highlighted the increase in antisemitic threats in the US and connected the hack to the ongoing controversy around the Epstein case. BBC News (Center) also provided context about the Epstein case, as well as the rise in social and email accounts being hacked and the importance of strong cybersecurity measures.

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