Hackers broke into the X account of Sesame Street character Elmo and posted antisemitic and racist messages, the makers of the children's TV show said. The posts, which have been deleted, called for violence against Jews, insulted United States President Donald Trump and demanded the release of government files on accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged clientele. Elmo, a cheerful red muppet, has more than 650,000 followers on X. Sesame Workshop, the non-profit behind Sesame Street, said an unidentified hacker was behind the posts.

"Elmo's X account was briefly compromised yesterday by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages, including antisemitic and racist posts," a spokesperson told AFP in a statement.

"The account has since been secured," the spokesperson said. X came under scrutiny last week when the account of the Grok chatbot developed by billionaire Elon Musk's company xAI produced content with antisemitic tropes. The posts were subsequently removed and called "inappropriate" by Grok's X account. Since Musk bought what was then known as Twitter in 2022, he has cut back on moderation. Extremist content has increased, according to researchers, causing some advertisers to pull away from the platform.