Musk’s Twitter: hate speech spikes, execs sacked, Trump happy

The takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk began with an awkward stab at a humorous tweet, the sacking of some top executives, and a LOT of hate speech. The site saw an immediate sharp rise in hate speech and disinformation posts by users who believe Musk’s anti-censorship stance will usher in a Twitter free-for-all. Public feelings are mixed about the world’s richest man running one of the world’s most popular social media platforms. But banned Twitter user and controversial former US President Donald Trump is excited at the chance of being allowed back on the platform.

Musk first announced his intentions to buy Twitter in April, then tried to backpedal out of the deal by July, and finally was sued by Twitter to go through with the purchase. He announced the confirmation of the deal by changing his Twitter profile to say Chief Twit and posting a photo of him walking through the corporate headquarters carrying a sink with the caption, “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!” (Get it? Get it?!)

In one of his first acts as the new owner of Twitter, Musk fired the company’s Chief Financial Officer, its Head of Safety, and Chief Executive Parag Agrawal who had sued to force the billionaire to go through with the deal. The bold move is a big financial hit for Twitter, as the executives have contracts that guarantee US$122 million in separation payouts.

Many have expressed apprehension about what the unpredictable richest man in the world might do with control of the platform. In recent months, Musk has taken to Twitter to push his plan for peace talks with Russia, offer his opinion Chinese-Taiwanese relations, and generally troll anyone who disagrees with him with seemingly no restraint.

HATE SPEECH SURGES

While Twitter is plagued with bots and accounts designed to sow discord and interfere with political processes, it has taken steps to curb misinformation and hate speech. But in the hours following the announcement of Musk’s takeover, it was clear that many extremists interpreted the message that all restrictions were off.

Bloomberg reported examples of one racial slur seeing a 1,300% increase immediately following the announcement, with it being used 34 times per minute after. Ivermectin – which was touted by the right wing as a Covid treatment and has now been proven not only ineffective but dangerous – saw a 2,900% increase in mentions, being used nearly 72 times per minute after Musk’s Twitter deal was announced. The Anti-Defamation League Centre on Extremism reported a sharp rise in anti-Semitism yesterday on Twitter.

After the January 6 insurrection, Donald Trump was permanently banned from the platform for his incitement. Kanye West was recently deplatformed for numerous anti-Semitic remarks (which has now seen him lose partnerships, agents, and more) in an apparent spiral of hate speech only days after a fashion show including White Life Matters t-shirts that drew strong condemnation.

Trump seems to feel confident and vindicated, welcoming Musk’s ownership after Elon hinted that the former US President would be allowed to return to Twitter.

“I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by radical left lunatics and maniacs that truly hate our country,”

SOME MODERATION NEEDED

Musk said that he plans to strip all content moderation down to its barest minimum. This has sparked hopes from people who have been banned for hate speech or false information like former President Trump and Kanye, whose Twitter account magically reappeared right as Elon Musk took over. Musk claims that was a decision by the previous owners that he was not involved in.

The world’s richest man advocated for free speech, but already recognizes the danger of removing all restrictions to his new social media platform.

“It is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated healthily. [Twitter] cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences.”