FLOODGATES OPENED: Musk supporters celebrate his Twitter reign with antisemitic, racist posts
Hate speech flooded Twitter almost immediately after Elon Musk took his position as Chief Executive Officer of the platform. Racial slurs, profanity, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric were the posts of choice for Musk fans eagerly awaiting this day.
Christopher Bouzy tweeted:
It hasn't been a full 24 hours yet, and Twitter is now 4chan. pic.twitter.com/XqnwXwmqQ9
— Christopher Bouzy (@cbouzy) October 28, 2022
“A number of Twitter users, predominantly women, have said that the level of abuse they’re receiving has shot up in the hours since Musk’s takeover,” VICE News reported.
Journalist Taylor Lorenz, the frequent target of sexual assault and death threats, shared the vitriol she’s encountered since the news.
Taylor Lorenz posted that she was getting rape threats in a thread. Libs of Tiktok QRT the initial tweet telling her to "cry more." Now her QRT are filling up with threats and misogynistic abuse. This is what Elon is unleashing, the unrestrained id of sociopaths. pic.twitter.com/48dbBEFRc2
— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) October 28, 2022
One Twitter user quote tweeted Musk, saying “I can freely express how much I hate n*ggers now, thanks Elon,” while another openly made death threats against Blacks and members of the Jewish community.
We're off to quite a start with groyper Nazi trolls feeling explicitly emboldened by Elon to threaten murder and use racist, anti Semitic, and homophobic slurs.
I'm sure the advertisers are going to love having their ads next to this. pic.twitter.com/HfUNC4buO0
— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) October 28, 2022
One of the Tesla CEO’s first acts as head honcho of Twitter was to oust the company’s top executives. Former CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and Chief Legal Counsel Vijaya Gadde were all fired.
Musk and Agrawal butted heads in April, right before the attention-seeking billionaire announced he was buying the platform. Gadde was attacked on the social media app after Musk tweeted the 11-year veteran be fired.
Head of public policy and safety, Gadde was reportedly bombarded with racist and misogynistic hate. According to NPR, the vitriolic harassment resumed after Gadde’s firing.
Contrary to the actions of Musk stans, in a lengthy letter to advertisers, the world’s richest man said that Twitter should be “warm and welcoming to all.”
“The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence. “There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.”
The public isn’t buying it. Elon Musk has done little to discourage, and almost nothing to condemn the hateful and violence-inciting rhetoric of his supporters. Many not wanting to be subjected to relentless harassment by right-wing, racist, and bigoted trolls and have already begun deactivating their accounts.
While those inflicting the abuse are rejoicing at the thought of causing a mass left-wing exodus, they may not be so cheery when they realize they’re the only ones left – which won’t make advertisers very happy either.
Original reporting by David Gilbert at VICE News.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter at @cooltxchick
