According to the Washington Post, a slew of racists has crawled out of the Twitter woodwork to openly show their anti-blackness following Elon Musk’s official takeover of the social media platform.
Immediately following the closure of the deal on October 27, which sat at around $44 billion, there has been a 500% increase in the use of the n-word on the platform.
An emboldened cast of anonymous trolls spewed racist slurs and Nazi memes onto Twitter in the hours after the billionaire industrialist took over the social network, raising fears that his pledge of unrestricted free speech could fuel a new wave of online hate.
Musk tweeted his intentions to allegedly make no “major content decisions” until he convened a moderation council to offer “widely diverse viewpoints” on decisions. However, just hours later, he continued to write, “Comedy is now legal on Twitter.”
Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints.
No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Comedy is now legal on Twitter
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Clearly, people took his words to mean that it was open season to spew hateful rhetoric into the platform because instances have become popularized where people are learning that Musk has no intention of censoring hate speech, all under the guise of “free speech.”
One anonymous user wrote, ‘“I can freely express how much I hate n*****s … now, thank you, Elon,” Another tweet read, “Elon now controls Twitter. Unleash the racial slurs. K***S AND N*****S.”
A lot of the outrage over free speech on Twitter has mostly been assholes complaining that they couldn’t be their worst assholey selves without consequence.
This is new Twitter. pic.twitter.com/LRKnttRMZ1
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) October 28, 2022
Activists and Black Twitter are demanding action following the disgusting uptick in hate speech.
It’s really telling to see how many people want lies, racism, homophobia and bigotry to be a part of their daily twitter feed now that Elon has taken over. I can’t imagine having people view me as the catalyst for their hate. That sadly says a lot about who Elon is.
— Malynda Hale (@MalyndaHale) October 28, 2022
From tomorrow Elon Musk is taking over censorship of Twitter and aims to get rid of 65% (?) or so of the employees which means less moderators which means more targeted abuse of Black people and other minorities. Looks like we may end up having to find another platform.
— Louise (@RedMeatRacists) October 27, 2022
I’m witnessing more transphobic and anti-Black racist tweets than ever. Elon Musk made it this way. Nazis, WS, and transphobes feel free to spew their hate thanks to him. Twitter has become Parler in one day. https://t.co/NAqWn1RUvF
— Hands Off Haiti ???? (@naxalight) October 29, 2022
