If Elon Musk really wants to make Twitter a more equitable space for everyone, he may want to consider Chuck D’s idea to help combat the use of the N-word on the platform.
The hip hop pioneer believes that issuing bans should be on the Tesla CEO’s list of ways to revamp and improve the app. “[The] next thing Twitter should do is ban the N-word, N**ga & n**ger by anyone that uses it here. Then we know things are pointing in [an] equalized direction. Then you can convince [Mark Zuckerberg] to do the same at IG [and] FB. Get it outta here, suspend ‘em. It’s as bad as that symbol,” the Public Enemy frontman wrote on Friday (Dec. 2).
The rapper’s suggestion was met with pushback from some users who felt banning people over one word would be too much of an extreme punishment. “It ain’t like kicking somebody’s tail in a fight. It’s all words and images here, keyboard s**t. So I’m not talking about anywhere else except social media right now because it can be done. There’s gonna be a lot [of] people back broke over their ‘pet’ getting smashed on here,” he continued in a second tweet.
It ain’t like kicking somebody’s tail in a fight. It’s all words and images here .. keyboard sht … so I’m not talking about anywhere else except social media right now because it can be done .. there gonna be a lotta people backbroke over their ‘pet’ getting smashed on here..
— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) December 2, 2022
In October, just days after Musk took over the social app in a $44 billion deal, the Network Contagion Research Institute released a report detailing how the use of the racial epithet on Twitter increased by 500 percent.
New reports released on Friday by the Center for Countering Digital Hate and the Anti-Defamation League revealed that hate speech continues to be on the rise across the platform. From slurs against the LGBTQ+ community to antisemitic remarks, it seems no community will be unscathed under Musk’s watch.
Last month, in a controversial move, Musk polled users on his plan to offer a general amnesty approach to reinstating previously suspended accounts. He asked, “Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?” Over 3 million people responded to the poll, with more than 72 percent voting in favor of the rule.
Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2022