Elon Musk has called Twitter's TikTok-esque video feature a bit "edgy" after users claim they were shown clips of animal abuse and anti-LGBTQ messaging. Replicating TikTok's 'swipe for more videos' function, Twitter first rolled out its own version in October 2022.
But it quickly grew in popularity after Musk tweeted about it earlier this week. "Just swipe up to see the next video," he told his 145 million followers on Monday (June 26), reminding them they can watch videos on the social media app.
However, after many rushed to try the feature out, vast complaints soon emerged. In an NBC News report, many users were alarmed by a "stream of graphic videos they encountered while scrolling through the feed" which reportedly included footage of "gun violence, police brutality, physical altercations and vaccine misinformation".
It comes after months of deep cuts to Twitter's moderation team - which once scoured the platform to remove toxic content, including hate speech and harassment. NBC News says it tested out the swipe up feature and found "disturbing videos that depict animal abuse, policy brutality and more".
Looking to address his new feature, Musk tweeted to his followers that some of the videos on the feature are "indeed quite edgy". In response to one user, HeidiBriones, who commented: "Go to any video. Swipe up. You’ll see. It’s wild," Elon wrote: "Some of the videos are indeed quite edgy."
One user, Casey Flores, said the videos they were being recommended were "traumatising", adding: "Why would this be auto-served to me?". Another, Sasquatch_god, tweeted that the feature "took me from a cute dog video to a dead guy who impaled himself on the back of a truck."
Vaenced added: "Right?! last night I was scrolling and dude got blasted by a car." LordAndrew typed: "I would love to stop using the feature, but sometimes I swipe accidentally." PatriotFrogPepo penned: "Great. Now I can see 2 dead dog videos instead of just 1. Thanks, Elgo."
Ella Irwin, head Twitter's trust and safety team resigned earlier this month having only taken over a year ago following another resignation. Twitter also disbanded the council that advised on online safety last year.
Twitter is worth just one third of the $44billion Musk paid for it less than two years ago. In that time, advertisers have left the platform in their droves, with estimates believing around half of the top paying advertisers have cut ties.
