Twitter boss Jack Dorsey account hacked and racist posts tweeted

Founder's Twitter account hacked amid spotlight security and concerns over hate speech on the platform

FILE - In this June 7, 2019, file photo, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey leaves after his talk with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Dorsey's official account was hacked Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, and sending racist and vulgar tweets to his 4.2 million followers. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)
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Hackers accessed the social media account of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and used his profile on the platform to tweet offensive and racist slurs to his 4.2 million followers.

A group called the Chuckling Squad is believed to be behind the hack.

Twitter confirmed that Mr Dorsey’s account had been breached on Friday for approximately 15 minutes.

The social media site was not breached elsewhere by the hackers who had targeted Mr Dorsey.

Post tweeted from the CEO’s Twitter account included anti-Semitic comments. All comments by the hackers have been deleted.

How the attackers gained access into his account remains unclear, though reports suggest a third-party app could be partly to blame.

The Twitter co-founder’s account hacked before. In 2016, the security firm OurMine hacked Mr Dorsey’s Twitter to send out a message about “testing your security.”

It comes after Twitter promised to improve the "health" of discourse on the social network by cracking down on hate speech and abuse.