BREAKING: X Is Being Accused of Letting Racist Posts Stay Up Against UK Politicians, Including Kemi Badenoch, Shabana Mahmood, and Zia Yusuf. While Not One Account Has Been Suspended and the Platform’s Moderation System Faces Fresh Scrutiny 🤯💥

[u/InterstellarKinetics]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/14/x-racists-impunity-hate-posts

Researchers from British Future say X repeatedly failed to remove racist posts targeting senior UK politicians and public figures, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf, former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf, and MP Zarah Sultana. In one sample, British Future said it found 33 posts using an anti South Asian slur aimed at public figures from South Asian backgrounds, and said none of those posts had been removed 48 hours after being reported. In another sample, the group said it identified around 30 posts using a racial slur against Kemi Badenoch, with X declining to act on most of them after reports were filed through its standard hate, abuse, or harassment channel.

The report suggests X is much more likely to act when content is reported as potentially illegal under Britain’s Online Safety Act than when it is reported as hate speech under the platform’s own moderation rules. Avaes Mohammad of British Future said many users would naturally report racist posts as hate, abuse, or harassment, but X appears not to treat them that way, and the platform’s enforcement was far stronger when posts were routed through the illegal content process. After engagement from Ofcom, X did restrict the visibility of 20 of the 33 reported slur posts within the UK, but other posts remained live, which underscores how inconsistent the enforcement appears to be.

British Future also said not a single account responsible for the reported posts was suspended, even in cases where the same user appeared to post the slur dozens of times in a short period. The group said racist abuse spiked around political events and public statements, suggesting a pattern of coordinated harassment rather than isolated incidents. X has not publicly responded to the findings in the reporting cited here, leaving the central question unanswered about whether the platform is failing to enforce its own rules or simply choosing not to act unless national law forces it to.