ANKARA, TURKIYE - OCTOBER 06: In this photo illustration, Elon Musk's twitter profile is displayed on a mobile phone and the image of him is seen on a computer screen on back of it in Ankara, Turkiye on October 06, 2022. Muhammed Selim Korkutata / Anadolu Agency
The use of the “n-word” has spike 500 percent on Twitter in the days after Elon Musk‘s purchase and takeover of the social media platform, something LeBron James calls “scary AF.”
Last week, the Washington Post revealed the staggering figure, which James criticized while adding “I hope he and his people take this very seriously.
“I dont know Elon Musk and, tbh, I could care less who owns Twitter,” James tweeted. “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.”
Musk has since responded to the controversy involving the proliferation of the racist slur on his newly-acquired company, and replied by referring James to a thread by Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and integrity.
“Over the last 48 hours, we’ve seen a small number of accounts post a ton of Tweets that include slurs and other derogatory terms,” Roth tweeted on Saturday. “To give you a sense of scale: More than 50,000 Tweets repeatedly using a particular slur came from just 300 accounts.”
Roth went on to say that “nearly all of these accounts are inauthentic. We’ve taken action to ban the users involved in this trolling campaign — and are going to continue working to address this in the days to come to make Twitter safe and welcoming for everyone.”
Musk elaborated in a separate tweet that Twitter has not yet changed its moderation policies from when he took over last week, in an effort to deflect blame on the concerning spike in use of the racial slur on his platform.
The business magnate and Tesla CEO – boasting a net worth of over $229 billion by Forbes, added that he will be creating a panel to oversee decisions involving content moderation and whether banned accounts, like that of former President Donald Trump, will be allowed to return to the platform.
“Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” he tweeted on Friday. “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”
As previously reported by The Shade Room, just days into the new leadership of Musk, Twitter is already implementing major changes, with the “Chief Twit” already given employees his first ultimatum: meet the deadline for introducing paid verification or face termination.
Under the new directive, Twitter Blue – the company’s optional $4.99 a month subscription service that offers additional features – would be expanded to include verifications for users, The Verge reports.
The social media network is planning on charging $19.99 for the new Twitter Blue subscription service, with currently verified users having 90 days to subscribe or lose their blue checkmark.
On Sunday, the employees working on the project were told that if they don’t meet a November 7 deadline, they will be fired. That same day, Musk tweeted about revamping the entire verification process.
In the months leading up to his acquisition of Twitter, the Tesla CEO has made it clear that he planned on overhauling the verification process as well as how the platform handles bots.
