Posted on 10/30/2022 7:23:38 PM PDT by lasereye
Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter faced controversy immediately as the number of racist comments spiked exponentially, including the use of the N-word.
Racists and trolls flooded Twitter, the social media company, since the company was taken private by Musk on Friday, testing whether the CEO of Tesla would stand by his claim of being a "free speech absolutist."
The number of trolls using the N-word on Twitter rose by 500% within 12 hours after the $44 billion deal was finalized, according to a report by the Network Contagion Research Institute, a group which researches social media content to determine threats that could materialize.
Accounts tweeting hate speech ranging from slurs against Black people to anti-Semitism surged immediately on Oct. 27, the day before the billionaire took over Twitter.
One Twitter user tweeted, "Elon now controls twitter. Unleash the racial slurs. K---S AND N-----S," in reference to slurs against Jewish and Black people.
Another account tweeted this sentiment.
“I can freely express how much I hate n-----s … now, thank you elon."
A small number of Twitter accounts are responsible for sending 50,000 tweets that include hate speech such as slurs and derogatory terms during the last 48 hours, said Yoel Roth, head of safety and integrity at Twitter on Oct. 29.
"To give you a sense of scale: More than 50,000 Tweets repeatedly using a particular slur came from just 300 accounts," he tweeted.
Very few of the accounts tweeting the slurs are from ones written by real people and instead are "inauthentic," said Roth, who leads the social media company's policy and threat investigation teams, affirmed that the company's policies remain the same.
"Hateful conduct has no place here," he tweeted. "And we’re taking steps to put a stop to an organized effort to make people think we have."
The number of accounts attacking people for their race, ethnicity and gender have surged, alarming many influential people, including Los Angeles Lakers basketball player LeBron James.
James, whose nickname is King James, commented about the attacks against Black people by stating, "I dont know Elon Musk and, tbh, I could care less who owns twitter. But I will say that if this is true, I hope he and his people take this very seriously because this is scary AF. So many damn unfit people saying hate speech is free speech."
The tech tycoon announced the creation of a council to review accounts that were banned in the aftermath of the attacks of Jan. 6, 2021 on Capitol Hill. Musk promised on Oct. 28 that decisions would not be made until after the council convenes.
Twitter permanently banned many public figures for violating this policy, including former President Donald Trump after the events.
Racist, anti-Semitic, bullying and hateful remarks are made constantly on social media networks, including Twitter. Disinformation had proliferated since fans of conspiracy theories propagate their theories.
Whether Twitter's new boss who has deemed himself "Chief Twit" will reinstate Donald Trump and other banned accounts remains unknown.
Musk, who also leads the rocket company SpaceX, appears to be going against his own strategy of promising advertisers that the platform will not be a "free-for-all hellscape." He made the promise just on Oct. 27, only three days ago.
But the world's richest man has said many times that breaking the law is the only red line.
In response to the vicious and brutal attack against Paul Pelosi on Oct. 28, who is married to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Musk appears to be favoring allowing conspiracy theories to propagate.
Musk had previously stated the importance of having content moderated.
"Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!" he wrote to advertisers on Oct. 27. "In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences, just as you can choose, for example, to see movies or play video games ranging from all ages to mature."
How many of these posts are in fact from lefties? I would guess most of them.
+++++
You are probably right about that.
I don’t see this as an insurmountable issue. The free expression of opinion seems to me to be separable from the language we use to express that opinion. I think black people have a legitimate reason for objecting to the use of the N-word and as a polite society I think we acknowledged that. It’s just an agreed to rule of conversation that most of us, left and right, agree to.
I think Elon Musk should apply a few such rules. Let us keep the language polite and civil and let the ideas be super wide ranging.
That was gonna be my next guess!
How about noodnicks?
“...including the use of the N-word.”
To quote Andrew Breitbart, “So...?” There’s free speech, or there isn’t free speech. Which do we prefer?
I have no problem with any words as long as the Lord’s name isn’t taken in vain. Some are ugly. Some are offensive. But ... free speech.
Never, never never never never?
Wait I just caught on fire because someone used a word!
Rappers must be starting to use the platform.
Why? Blacks are posting there now?
I don’t get around like I used to, but I haven’t seen Whites
use the N word more than ten times in my life, and truth be
told, it may be less than five.
I have never hung out with anyone who would use that word.
I don’t do Twit, but I have lived in “Colorful” communities and know for a fact that “Blacks” use that word among themselves more than ANYONE else.
An no, not always in fun.
Should they be censored for using the word too?
OH NOES. Because no black person or “aspiring rapper “ ever utters that word...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bVZU5ydZm8s
Great show.
All those people who annoy me.
A bunch of naggers.
Whyte conservatives don’t say the N word. So that leaves a few other suspecks
Yeah. “Nazis”. The new racial epithet.
300 tweeters busy sending racist tweets. Didn’t read article, so don’t know if they identified tweeters or how long they’ve been registered.
I would guess 99.9%.
It’s their way to force Musk to abandon free speech.
Yes the way to handle this is to expose who they are.
So rather than ban speech remove the anonymity of those who abuse it.
Let them face the consequences of their actions.
I am sure they ALL are from lefties. Can’t people block others from posting on their account (or whatever it is called)?
That would take care of the troll problem...
(I wish we could do something similar here :P )
There has long been a “black twitter”. Blacks would say, “black twitter” do your thing. Meaning do your swarm mobbing thing against ....you can guess who
So lets see how the new Musk twitter deals with these problems
LeBron James: “So many damn unfit people saying hate speech is free speech.”
It IS free speech. It is also ugly and unhelpful and often mean-spirited, but it is free speech.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.