Homophobic slurs linked to monkeypox continue to spread on Twitter

Homophobic slurs linking the LGBTQ+ community to monkeypox cases in children have been on the rise on Twitter, according to ISD’s latest findings. INSIDER reports on our investigation and finds that the ‘groomer’ narratives plays into a wider tactic, “in which conservatives have been baselessly deploying ‘groomer’ as a buzzword against Democrats and the LGBTQ community.”

The term continues to spread despite Twitter’s ban on using it as an LGBT-slur and updates in their Hateful Conduct policy.

“The baseless narrative that people in the LGBTQ community who get monkeypox are ‘groomers’ is still prominent, and despite Twitter’s ban against using the word as an anti-LBGTQ slur, there are still numerous tweets online baselessly saying people who need the monkeypox vaccine or members of the LGBTQ community are ‘groomers'”, the Insider article reads.