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Jun 14, 2026
Analyzed by Llama- 4 Scout 17B 16E Instruct

X accused of giving racists 'impunity' after refusing to bar N- and P-word posts

AI Summary
X has refused to take down dozens of social media posts reported as 'hate, abuse or harassment' in which prominent UK politicians, including Kemi Badenoch, have been racially abused. The platform only takes action when posts are reported as illegal under the UK's Online Safety Act.

The Refusal to Remove Racist Posts

X has refused to take down dozens of social media posts reported as 'hate, abuse or harassment' in which prominent UK politicians, including Kemi Badenoch, have been racially abused.

The Reporting Process and Its Limitations

In May, researchers from the social inclusion thinktank British Future reported 30 posts from this year in which the Conservative party leader was called the N-word. In each case, the researchers used the platform's 'hate, abuse or harassment' reporting option. X refused to act in the majority of cases, despite repeated requests.

  • X routinely takes action only when posts are reported to it as illegal under the UK's Online Safety Act.
  • In those cases, it restricts visibility in the UK, leaving the post unrestricted in other jurisdictions.

The Data Analysis: A Pattern of Inaction

The Guardian understands that X eventually restricted visibility for just two of the 30 messages in which Badenoch was called the N-word – and only after Sunder Katwala, the director of British Future, emailed the platform saying he should not be expected to fill out an 'onerous' form reporting each one as illegal.

  • On 15 May, British Future reported 33 uses of the P-word targeting UK public figures.
  • 48 hours later, none of the 33 posts reported had been removed.

The Impact Analysis: Impunity for Racists

Avaes Mohammad, a researcher with British Future's British South Asian Bridgers cohesion project, said: 'Many people will intuitively report racist posts as 'hate, abuse or harassment' – but it seems X doesn't consider it as hate. Our research found that it was only when a post is described as illegal, which they can't dispute, that they will consider taking it down.'

British Future says the platform's approach means racists can operate with impunity on X.

The Prediction: Future Actions and Regulations

Ofcom said it condemned racism 'in all its forms', and its job was to ensure sites had 'appropriate measures in place to comply with their duties' rather than telling them what to take down.

The regulator said X had committed 'to reviewing and assessing UK suspected illegal terrorist and hate content reported through its dedicated UK illegal content reporting tool' within an average of 24 hours, adding: 'We'll be carrying out quarterly reviews of X's performance.'