Not long after Tesla founder Elon Musk took control of Twitter, trolls littered the site with hate speech and Nazi memes, raising fears that the social media platform could become a home for online hate.
The Washington Post reported that the flood of racist and hateful posts is a clear signs the site has changed ownership. One tweet, a racial slur in capital letters, was retweeted more than 700 times and liked more than 5,000 times. Other accounts have included swastikas as profile pictures, glorifying Nazi Germany, and tweets denouncing the LGBTQ+ community.
The rise in hate speech has led many to believe the return of Former President Donald Trump to the site is imminent. However, Musk tweeted that he has not made any changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies.
One change that numerous outlets have reported is that Twitter will begin charging $20 per month for its blue check verification. The blue checkmark is typically used to verify that statements are coming from specific individuals and organizations. Musk seemingly wants to turn it into a status symbol.
Musk tweeted Friday that he will form a new moderation council, offering little information about the council, who will be on it, or what it will be tasked with.
Paul M. Barrett, New York University’s Center For Business and Human Rights deputy director, told the Washington Post
that a council under Musk would be highly criticized considering his “notoriously erratic and imperious personality.”“To make an advisory body work, he would have to give it some degree of independence and make it very transparent,” Barrett said.
“Frankly, I am not that optimistic, but as the whole Musk-Twitter saga has illustrated, he is full of surprises.”
Musk’s other company, Tesla, has paid millions in racial discrimination lawsuits due to the alleged treatment of Black workers at Tesla plants. Even the state of California is suing the electric vehicle giant.
According to the Washington Post, Musk has yet to meet with Twitter employees and although rumors of layoffs have impacted the workforce since Musk took over, no one was laid off Friday, and most employees said it was business as usual at its headquarters.
General Motors told CNBC that it will temporarily suspend its advertising on the platform until the direction of the company under Musk becomes clear.