Elon Musk's Twitter Is 'Hellscape' for LGBTQ+ People, Groups Say
Although Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, claimed it would not be a "hellscape" for LGBTQ+ people, human rights groups and advocates say it's already there only days after he took the reins.
On Thursday, the world's richest man completed his long-anticipated takeover of the social media platform. And with his acquisition, out goes content moderation, critics say.
As seemingly one of his first acts, Musk eliminated some of the app's safeguards.The billionaire claimed, however, he had yet to change Twitter's content moderation."Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints," the billionaire tweeted. "No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes." But accounts have now been allowed to post tweets that include once-banned language.For example, within hours of the sale's completion, Chaya Raichick's Libs of TikTok account blatantly tweeted a string of the anti-LGBTQ+ slur, "groomer," for which, before Thursday, the account would have earned a suspension.The account wrote "groomer" 13 times.
Similarly, Jaimee Michell's group Gays Against Groomers took to Twitter to test the waters of hate speech. "OKAY GROOMER," the account tweeted.
