Just days after Twitter accepted Elon Musk’s $44 billion offer to buy the company, the South African-born tech magnate went after one of the company’s top attorneys, Vijaya Gadde. As the company’s legal, policy and trust lead, Gadde has been a key figure in establishing content policy at Twitter, including the decision to ban Donald Trump from the platform.

On April 27, Musk took a cheap shot at Gadde, mocking past decisions made by her team. Gadde, who is female and hails from India, soon faced a barrage of harassing messages, including racist and sexist insults. Musk was all but proving that point that many had made surrounding his bid to buy the company: under his ownership, Twitter may become a much more hostile place, especially for women and LGBTQ people.

Whether it’s a top executive at Twitter, a BBC reporter in Iran, or a Muslim feminist activist in India, or a journalist at The Washington Post in the U.S., women and sexual minorities — especially those with a public profile — face various kinds of online abuse, from violent threats and hate speech on social media to doxxing attacks that expose their personal information. Since the start of the pandemic, online abuse and harassment has become more severe for women, especially women of color, and LGBTQ people.

Many advocates say tech companies should do more to tackle online abuse, but with people like Musk in charge, it’s hard to see this happening any time soon.