Musk responds to LeBron James Twitter concerns
New Twitter owner Elon Musk has addressed concerns from NBA icon LeBron James about the reported rise of the ‘N-word’ on the social media platform.
Musk, who is said to be worth around $220 billion, purchased Twitter for $44 billion on October 27. Shortly afterwards, use of the of the ‘N-word’ used to insult African-Americans and black people skyrocketed by 500%, a report shared by The Washington Post claimed.
LA Lakers star James said that the development was “scary AF [as f**k].”
“I don’t know Elon Musk and, [to be honest], 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 [as f**ck]. So many damn unfit people saying hate speech is free speech.”
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. https://t.co/Sy0jvXIBnC
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 29, 2022
Though Musk didn’t reply to James with his own words, he shared a post from Twitter’s head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth.
“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 at the weekend.
“To give you a sense of scale: More than 50,000 Tweets repeatedly using a particular slur came from just 300 accounts.”
“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,” Roth added.
Musk confirmed on Friday that Twitter hasn’t changed its moderation policies yet and revealed that he will form a panel to handle big decisions, such as whether banned accounts from figures such as ex-US President Donald Trump should return to the platform, and moderate content.
“Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” Musk wrote.
“No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”
