What happened

John Davidson, an activist with Tourette syndrome, involuntarily shouted the N-word during a presentation at the BAFTA Film Awards by Black actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan. 

While the incident itself caused significant distress, it was worsened when a Google News automated notification system sent a push alert inviting users to "See more on [N-word]." 

Many recipients and observers described as shocking and offensive, especially during Black History Month in the US. 

Google later removed the notification and issued an apology, claiming that only a limited number of users saw it.

Why it happened

Google later said the problem stemmed from an error with an automated system it uses to recognise and provide "clarity" on euphemisms for offensive terms appearing on web pages. 

According to the tech company, the filters meant to catch and block the use of slurs did not trigger and the system incorrectly "applied" the full offensive term to the notification text after identifying a euphemism in news articles it was linking to.

The incident reflects indequate human-in-the-loop oversight of automated push notification systems, especially for high-stakes, sensitive news topics.