"Technical Error": US News Channel After "Accidentally" Posting N-Word On X
A Los Angeles-based TV news channel courted major controversy on Friday after sharing a single-word post on the social media platform X with the N-word.
The post was shared on the Elon Musk-owned platform "accidentally" from the channel's official X account and was later deleted.
However, it sparked outrage on the Internet, where several users shared screenshots of the post, forcing the station to issue an apology for the "technical error," the New York Post reported.
What's the controversy?
On Friday, the offensive word was shared without any context from the X handle of KTLA, also known as Channel 5.
Before the channel could remove the post, it was too late, as several of its one million followers had taken screenshots and shared them online.
KTLA, in its apology, claimed that this happened due to a "technical error".
"KTLA experienced a technical error while adding language filters to our social media accounts, resulting in an offensive word being accidentally shared," it wrote and added that the channel was "appalled" and apologised for the same.
In its post, the channel was talking about the function on the platform which allows users to 'mute' specific words.
It blocks such posts containing particular words, phrases, usernames, emojis, or hashtags, as per the X Help Center.
According to the New York Post, the news channel's explanation indicates that it was trying to add the slur to its "muted" words list, however, it ended up posting it on the platform accidentally.
Muting specific words and hashtags applies to the notification and Home timeline of the handle, and these are case-insensitive.
To avail this service, users can click 'More' on the side navigation menu and open Settings and Privacy. Under the Privacy and safety tab, they will find the Mute and block option. The 'Mute' timing ranges from 24 hours and a week to 30 days and forever.
Internet reacts
Several of the social media users remained skeptical of the explanation given by KTLA over the controversial post, with one user calling it a "nice excuse" from their end.
Another added, "Please educate me how a technical error leads to a racial slur."
A user stated that this was "unacceptable" and was "probably a total lie about language filters."
In a statement to the New York Post, a spokesperson for the news channel said that it was "investigating the exact cause of this incident" and deeply regretted the same.
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