Report: Twitter Autofilled Searches to Route to Grisly Animal Cruelty Vids
SAFEGUARDS DOWN
Twitter users who recently typed in “dog” or “cat” in the social network’s search bar were reportedly met with a horrifying sight this week—autofill results that linked to animal cruelty videos. The top search suggestions after typing “cat” on Wednesday were “cat in blender,” “cat blender full video,” and “cat in a blender,” reported NBC, who replicated the searches. Users who clicked the autofill suggestion were met with a grisly clip of a kitten being slaughtered in a blender. Typing “dog” into the search bar yielded autofill suggestions for “dog screwdriver” and “dog stabbed by screwdriver,” which produced equally disgusting clips if clicked on. Twitter gave no explanation for the ordeal, but reportedly turned off its autofill suggestion completely. Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, told NBC News the company used to have safeguards to prevent graphic autofill results, but said those protections may have been dropped under Elon Musk’s leadership to promote “free speech.”