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Elon Musk says Twitter “cannot become a free-for-all hellscape.” Early signs show the platform is heading in the wrong direction under his leadership—at a particularly inconvenient time for American democracy The Toxic Tales of the 2022 Midterms: Unraveling the Lies, Hate, and Extremism Polluting the Public Square01 Jul 08 Jul 15 Jul 22 Jul 29 Jul 05 Aug 12 Aug 19 Aug 26 Aug 02 Sep 09 Sep 16 Sep 23 Sep 30 Sep 07 Oct 4 Nov 14 Oct 21 Oct 28 Oct 60K 50K 40K 30K 20K 10K 0 Twit ter Men tions Calls for Civil WarElection FraudCitizen PolicingAllegations of Grooming and Pedophilia The Four Toxic Narratives of the US Midterms: Volume of Conversation over Time July 01 - 31 October, 2022Select Topic Timeline: Notable events (triggers) around “Calls for Civil War” and the shifts in volume of conversations on Twitter in the United States July 01 - October 31, 2022 Exogenous triggers Twit ter Men tion Endogenous triggers (Twitter only)Top Tweets 01 Jul 08 Jul 15 Jul 22 Jul 29 Jul 05 Aug 12 Aug 19 Aug 26 Aug 02 Sep 09 Sep 16 Sep 23 Sep 30 Sep 07 Oct 4 Nov 14 Oct 21 Oct 28 Oct 60K 50K 40K 30K 20K 10K 0 07 September, 2022 The controversial standup comic Kathy Griffin’s (“If you don’t want a Civil War, vote for Democrats in November. If you do want Civil War, vote Republican”) was by Twitter users 10 August, 2022 Tweets claimed that Liberals didn’t call for violence or civil war when in 2016 when FBI reopened a case against Hillary Clinton just 11 days before election. Other also claimed that accounts on “Truth social” and far-right platforms called for “civil war” 02 September, 2022 The majority of tweets are left-leaning condemning Republicans call for ‘civil war’ in support of Trump. Mentions of also spiked 14 August, 2022 claimed that when the FBI reopened its case against Hillary before 2016 presidential election, liberals or democrats didn’t ask for a civil also claimed that @CBSNews obtained warning of increase in calls for “civil war” along with violent threats on social media against federal officials including FBI FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, former president Donald Trump’s Florida house August 08 - 10, 2022 Top 10 Twitter Posts: Calls for Civil War: Peak A New York Times broke the story that Trump’s attorney sent a written declaration that all classified documents had been returned weeks before the search occurred. August 13, 2022 Top 10 Twitter Posts: Calls for Civil War: Peak B Bulk of conversation criticizes MAGA Republicans for civil war dog whistles and increasingly violent rhetoric August 29, 2022 Top 10 Twitter Posts: Calls for Civil War: Peak C Following President Biden’s speech warning of the dangers to democracy posed by the extreme right, MAGA Republicans call him #pedohitler and claim he’s declaring civil war, while the bulk of tweets criticize MAGA rhetoric September 02, 2022 Top 10 Twitter Posts: Calls for Civil War: Peak D Next >