Elon Musk is proving that he does not care about any consequences and he is most determined on his mission to transform Twitter into something new and exciting. The repercussion of his aggressive actions has already started to come to light. As the 27-year-old US supermodel Gigi Hadid announced on Instagram that she deactivated her Twitter account on Friday. She wrote on her Instagram story;
“For a long time, but especially with its new leadership, it’s becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate & bigotry, and it’s [sic] not a place I want to be a part [sic] of. I can’t stay it’s a safe place for anyone, nor a social platform that will do more good than harm.”
Before Gigi Hadid departure, famous singer Toni Braxton also announced her exit, she wrote;
“I’m shocked and appalled at some of the ‘free speech I’ve seen on this platform since its acquisition. Hate speech under the veil of ‘free speech is unacceptable; therefore I am choosing to stay off Twitter as it is no longer a safe space for myself, my sons, and other POC.”
Also, famous Hollywood producer Shonda Rhimes wrote;
“Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye.”
Not only celebs are leaving Twitter but Twitter is also doing its best to kick out some renowned names from the platform. US comedian Kathy Griffin’s account was suspended as Twitter’s new boss Elon Musk rolled out rules for users engaging in ‘impersonation’ on the social media platform. Kathy Griffin changed her profile name to Elon Musk following which she was promptly banned from the social media platform. Her handle showed her own @kathygriffin name but the moniker by her blue checkmark read Elon Musk. Elon Musk tried to play a sarcastic card.
Asserting that this goes against the company policy against impersonation, Elon Musk said that any account which does the same will be suspended permanently if it does not clearly specify that it is a “parody”.
“Previously, we issued a warning before the suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning. This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue,” Elon Musk tweeted.
All of the free speech advocacy and a dream for an open platform was applauded by many on the internet, others however aren’t very happy. Many including major celebrities believe that the once peaceful platform will now have unfiltered and unchecked content leading to the spread of hate.
