Twitter Removes Kanye’s Tweet After He Drops N-Word—And Musk Claims Platform Rules Unchanged

Topline

Kanye West threw more gasoline on his bonfire of controversy by tweeting the N-word, not long after his friend Twitter owner Elon Musk attempted to assuage advertisers on Twitter as companies pull their advertising amid fears the platform would descend into chaos.

Controversial musician Kanye West tweeted the N-word Friday, as billionaire Twitter head Elon Musk … [+] attempts to assuage advertisers’ fears the social media platform could turn into a “free-for-all hellscape.”

getty

Key Facts

Musk tweeted that he blames “activist groups” for pressuring advertisers to pull ads from Twitter, causing a “massive drop” in revenue since he took over the reins of the company last week.

He claimed the activist groups are “trying to destroy free speech in America,” even as he said he has done nothing to change Twitter’s content moderation.

Within hours, West posted a since-deleted tweet that he’s “starting to think anti-Semitic means [the N word]

.”

West, who legally changed his name to Ye, has been restricted from Instagram and temporarily blocked from Twitter, and dropped by multiple companies—including Adidas, Gap, Balenciaga and Footlocker—amid losing his billionaire status following antisemitic comments over the past month, saying he would go “death con 3 on Jewish people.”

As of Friday, Audi, General Mills, Pfizer, Volkswagen and Oreo maker Mondelez International Inc., pulled their ads from Twitter, with Ford and General Motors telling Forbes they will refuse to buy ad space on the site until they have a clearer understanding of the platform’s future—major advertising firms Interpublic Group (CVS, Nintendo) and Havas Media also reportedly recommended clients not buy ads on Twitter.

Musk, who fashions himself a “free speech absolutist” issued an open letter to advertisers days before he took control of the company, changing his Twitter handle to “Chief Twit,” that he would not let the platform become a “free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.”

Since taking over, however, several groups reported a spike in hate speech, with the Network Contagion Research Institute finding a 500% increase in the use of the n-word over the first 12 hours following Musk’s acquisition.

Contra

Musk, who has flirted with the idea of lifting restrictions on banned accounts, said last week he plans to create a “content moderation council” to determine which users could come back to the platform in a “clear process” that would include input from the “civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence.”

Key Background

Musk has harshly criticized Twitter’s moderation policies since he announced his $44 billion offer to buy the company in April, saying his intent is to protect free speech and that the platform should allow all legal speech. He told advertisers last week he hopes to “try to help humanity” by making Twitter into a “common digital town square,” while also saying it’s “essential” that ads on Twitter are “as relevant as possible.” Twitter’s stocks have dropped to $135.25 per share from $142.64 just before Musk completed his $144 billion acquisition last Thursday.

News Peg

Twitter workers filed a class-action lawsuit against the company Thursday night, accusing it of failing to provide its staff 60 days notice required under federal law before it planned mass layoffs. Musk’s layoffs could reportedly affect nearly half of the company’s roughly 7,500 employees. In one of his first moves as CEO, he let go of three top executives: former CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal and policy chief Vijaya Gadde. Chief Customer Officer Sarah Personette quit after Musk took over.

What We Don’t Know

Whether Musk will lift former President Donald Trump’s permanent ban. In May, Musk pledged to bring the former president back to the platform, where Trump routinely announced policies and attacked critics during his presidency. Twitter imposed a permanent ban on his account “due to the risk of further incitement of violence” after he repeatedly tweeted false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and apparent support of the January 6 rioters, calling them “American patriots.” Twitter previously hid some of Trump’s tweets, including posts downplaying the deadliness of Covid-19 and promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine despite there being no evidence supporting the claim it was an effective treatment for Covid. Speaking at a Future of the Car event, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO argued the ban on Trump’s account was a “flat-out stupid” and “morally bad decision.” Trump, however, swore off Twitter after his ban, telling CNBC after Musk announced his bid for the platform in April that he won’t go back even if Musk lifts his ban.

Tangent

Musk, who has previously said permanent bans “fundamentally undermine trust,” could bring other high-profile banned accounts back to Twitter, including controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Trump adviser Steve Bannon, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and Infowars host Alex Jones—who spouted debunked conspiracy theories claiming the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting was faked.