LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers issued a response to various reports that there had been a spike in the use of racial slurs across the Twitter platform in the wake of Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform by stating that Musk needed to address the issue very seriously.
James was responding to a recent article out of The Washington Post that made the claim that there had been an almost 500% spike in usage of the n-word across the Twitter platform in the wake of Musk finalizing the takeover. “Several posts on 4chan encourage users to amplify derogatory slurs,” explained the report, seemingly stating that the increase in the use of slurs may not have been entirely organic, which The Post fails to speak about.
The study that The Washington Post utilized claimed that “bad actors” were “trying to test the limits” via Twitter, all despite that there has been no content moderation alterations issue yet at all.
Evidence suggests that bad actors are trying to test the limits on @Twitter. Several posts on 4chan encourage users to amplify derogatory slurs.
For example, over the last 12 hours, the use of the n-word has increased nearly 500% from the previous average. pic.twitter.com/mEqziaWuMF
— Network Contagion Research Institute (@ncri_io) October 28, 2022
“I dont know Elon Musk and, tbh, I could care less who owns twitter,” stated James in a tweet. “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.”
James dealt with extreme backlash over his statement, which came to light after a insane person broke into the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) and assaulted her husband with a hammer.
Quite a few users across Twitter were fast to bring up to James about when he went after a police officer on the social media platform that had defended a black woman who was being assaulted. “YOU’RE NEXT,” stated James. “#ACCOUNTABILITY.”
“LeBron James doxxed a heroic police officer and implied he should go to prison for life,” stated David Hookstead, a sports writer. “Now, he’s concerned about ‘hate speech.’ Did he ask China permission before sending this tweet?”
Please, lecture us some more about “unfit people” making tweets, @KingJames https://t.co/squlKgNxXl pic.twitter.com/fofMGgtIii
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) October 30, 2022
“Hate speech protected under the First Amendment, as it should be,” stated Colin Wright, a journalist.
“Hate speech is free speech.” posted YouTuber Tim Pool.
“LeBron only wants to hear the N-word in rap music,” stated podcast host Jason Whitlock. “It’s a term of endearment in rap. When LeBron dropped the N-word on HBO’s The Shop it was a good thing. But now it’s scary AF. Gotcha.”
Musk highlighted a brand new strategy regarding content moderation via a post this past Friday, stating: “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,” he went on. “To be super clear, we have not yet made any changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies.”
