Sky News: Over-zealous auto-moderation software meant word ‘gay’ was censored
Sky News has responded to criticism after the word ‘gay’ appeared to be censored on a newspaper review, to say that “over-zealous auto-moderation software” was to blame.
During a newspaper review on the Sky News channel, a tweet was displayed about Benjy the bull who was saved from slaughter after his owner thought he was gay, and recently attempted to mate with cows.
Displaying a Daily Mail tweet about Benjy, the programme, presented by Niall Paterson, and which aired on 31 May, starred out the word ‘gay’, so the tweet read: “Benjy the *** bull is actually bisexual!”
Responding to a PinkNews request for comment, a Sky News spokesperson said: “Last night some over-zealous auto-moderation software meant the word gay was replaced by asterisks in a tweet that was put on air. This was not a human error and clearly the word gay is not in any way offensive.
“We are currently working on upgrading the system so we can avoid this happening in the future.”
Benjy the bull from County Mayo was originally facing slaughter last year because he showed more interest in other bulls than in cows.
However, after late Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon stumped up the money to buy him, Benjy was moved to Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norwich, England.
After being castrated, Hillside staff noted that he showed a special interest in some of the cows he was housed with.
