X leaves up posts by verified user promoting slavery

The Elon Musk-owned social media platform X left up a viral post promoting the enslavement of Black people, which has recorded over two million views since being posted on Saturday.

Shared by a verified account with blue tick status, the post contained a screenshot from the 1939 Hollywood film ‘Gone with the Wind’ where Black actor Hattie McDaniel, playing the role of an enslaved woman, dresses the story’s protagonist Scarlett O’Hara, who was played by Vivien Leigh.

The post on X:

A cropped screenshot from X shows the post promoting slavery | Photo Credit: Sourced from X

The X post shared the picture while claiming that Black people made “good slaves,” and spoke out against their freedom. The account later quoted Aristotle to justify slavery.

X users post graphic or illegal videos in effort to get money from ads and views

In response to a user who made racist comments about Black people’s work ethic, the verified user posted a photo of a whip. The user also posted on February 15 that “illegal immigrants should be enslaved upon capture,” along with a photo of Black people, including a child.

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The account has a little more than 17,000 followers and the hateful post remained on X close to two days later without being hit with any labels or enforcement actions.

Under Musk’s leadership, Twitter’s content moderation experts were laid off and a number of brands paused advertising as they learned of their content being posted near hateful accounts.

Paying users on X are also incentivised to post viral content in order to get a share of ad revenue.

CEO Linda Yaccarino has repeatedly claimed that X is mandated to protect free speech and tackle hate speech.

Musk was previously accused of personally boosting antisemitic voices and conspiracy theories on the platform.