LeBron James Expresses Concern Over Rise In Hate Speech On Twitter Amid Elon Musk Takeover - 'This Is Scary AF'

LeBron James has expressed concern about the sudden rise in hateful speech and racist statements on Twitter since the news of Elon Musk's takeover was confirmed. The basketball icon responded to a tweet on the increase in hate speech and racist posts and said he hopes Musk's team takes the report seriously.

Musk has severally sparked concern about his relaxed attitude towards content moderation and has previously criticized Twitter for banning controversial public figures like Donald Trump and Kanye West. However, the SpaceX founder has confirmed that Twitter will form a content moderation council to make major content decisions or reinstate accounts.

Since the news of Musk's takeover, several racist and hate speech posts have gone viral on Twitter, but the platform later took some down. Celebrities like Elliot Higgins and organizations like Amnesty International have also expressed concern about the increase in hate speech and racism on the platform. 

Read on to find out more.

Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on Friday, sparking the emergence of many anonymous user accounts that made posts filled with racist remarks, like the N-word, and hate speech. According to The Washington Post, these accounts made the posts test the limit of the platform's moderation policies amid the change in ownership.

Twitter user Philip Lewis then tweeted about the hate posts, citing research from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) that "over the last 12 hours, the use of the N-word has increased nearly 500% from the previous average."

https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1586431561041293312?s=20&t=iwhJI-nqShTwvXmd-YD7Jw

James quoted Lewis' tweet, writing, "I don't know Elon Musk and, tbh, I couldn't 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."

51-year-old Musk has severally sparked concerns that he's too relaxed concerning content moderation, as the billionaire has previously criticized the former Twitter leadership for banning the accounts of controversial public figures like Donald Trump and Kanye West.

However, shortly before his purchase of Twitter was confirmed, Musk issued a public notice to advertisers, assuring that he has no intentions of turning the social media platform into a "free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!"

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1586059953311137792?s=20&t=9ISJkLHwKN13JriaEwGhBg

One of Musk's first tweets after his purchase of the platform was confirmed read, "The bird is free." Later that day, he shared that Twitter would be creating a "content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints." Musk explained, "No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before the council convenes."

Just like The Washington Post stated, several posts filled with hate speech and racist slurs, like the N-word, received thousands of likes and retweets after the news of Musk's takeover was confirmed. One tweet read, "Elon now controls twitter. Unleash the racial slurs," while another said, "When you can't get banned on Twitter anymore."

Several Twitter users blamed Musk for giving the trolls the confidence to tweet their hateful messages. One user wrote that the "trolls are feeling explicitly emboldened by Elon to threaten murder and use racist, anti Semitic, and homophobic slurs." The Washington Post also confirmed that several of the hateful tweets were taken down by the platform that Friday.

While some Twitter-banned public figures, like Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene, celebrated Musk's takeover, several celebrities and organizations expressed concern about the increase in hateful and racist posts since the news was confirmed.

https://twitter.com/amnesty/status/1585935038385905664?s=20&t=9ISJkLHwKN13JriaEwGhBg

Amnesty International referenced one of Musk's recent posts, tweeting, "Toxic Twitter, let that sink in." The international NGO also pointed out that women, especially those from marginalized groups, have often found themselves easy targets for hateful comments and abuse.

Elliot Higgins, the founder of Bellingcat, also posted about his concerns. He tweeted, "Seems a bit of a comms issue for Twitter that Musk's takeover has triggered a wave of offensive tweets from people who now think that's okay thanks to Musk, and no-one seems to know if the reporting system is still used by Twitter, or it's just a racist and abusive free for all."