The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has decided to close its Twitter account following a series of homophobic attacks that went unaddressed by the social media platform, even after being reported. The account, previously known as @LADAOffice, is no longer available on Twitter.

"Our decision to archive our Twitter account was not an easy one," stated the office in a press release. "It was the result of a series of distressing comments over time, culminating in a shocking response to the photos we posted to celebrate LADA's known participation in a Pride parade."

The Pride parade post received "an onslaught of vicious and offensive comments that left us deeply concerned," the office noted. These comments ranged from homophobic and transphobic insults to graphic and sexually explicit images. Despite being reported on Twitter, these comments remained visible in replies to the account for over 24 hours.

Twitter, with its new CEO Linda Yaccarino assuming the position on Monday, has not responded to requests for comment. According to various advocacy groups, attacks against LGBTQ+ users have significantly increased since Elon Musk took over the company last fall.

The Center to Counter Digital Hate recently identified 1.7 million tweets and retweets from early 2022 mentioning the LGBTQ+ community along with insults including terms like "predator" and "pedophile." Prior to Musk's tenure, the daily average of such tweets in 2022 was 3,011, but it jumped by 119% to 6,596 in the four months following his acquisition in October last year.

One of the main reasons is the drastic staff cuts Musk has implemented since taking control. There simply aren't enough content moderators to handle the influx of problematic tweets, ranging from hate speech to graphic material and harassment. Musk has described himself as an "absolutist for free speech" and believes Twitter's previous policies were too restrictive.

In April, for example, Twitter quietly removed a policy targeting gender-related messages and the use of birth names directed at transgender individuals, raising concerns about the platform's safety for marginalized groups. Musk has also repeatedly engaged with far-right figures and shared misinformation with his 143 million followers.

Recently, Ella Irwin, Twitter's Head of Trust and Safety, resigned after Musk criticized the platform's handling of tweets regarding a conservative media company's documentary questioning medical treatment for transgender children and teens. Musk tweeted the video, which has been criticized as transphobic, to his followers with the message "Every parent should watch this."

The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office announced that it will remain active on other major social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok. However, they made it clear that they will not be complicit or use a platform that promotes such hateful rhetoric, specifically referring to Twitter.