In a shocking turn of events, the cherished Sesame Street character Elmo became the center of controversy after its official social media account was compromised on Sunday.
The account, typically known for promoting positive and neutral content, was used to disseminate hateful messages targeting Jewish people and promoting QAnon conspiracy theories involving Jeffrey Epstein.
The posts, which have since been removed, included inflammatory statements such as, "Elmo says ALL JEWS SHOULD DIE. FUCK JEWS. DONALD TRUMP IS NETANYAHUS PUPPET BECAUSE HE IS IN EPSTEIN FILES. JEWS CONTROL THE WORLD AND NEED TO BE EXTERMINATED."
Another post read, "RELEASE THE FILES [Donald Trump] CHILD FUCKER," and yet another declared, "Kill all Jews." Despite the posts being deleted, the account has not issued an official statement regarding the incident.
According to Breitbart, this incident is not isolated, as last year, Ford Motor Co's account on X was involved in a similar situation. The account inexplicably posted anti-Israel content, which the company suggested might have been the result of a hack. Ford stated to FOX Business, "Our X account was briefly compromised and the previous three posts were not authorized or posted by Ford. We are investigating the issue."
In a comparable scenario in 2018, Buffalo Wild Wings faced backlash when its Twitter account was used to publish a series of offensive posts. The company responded by stating, "Well, we were hacked. And it wasnt funny. We apologize for the awful posts, which obviously did not come from us."
These incidents highlight the ongoing challenges faced by organizations in securing their social media accounts against unauthorized access and the potential reputational damage that can ensue.
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