Twitter has served as a prime hub for breaking news, ongoing events, and other topical discussions since its inception in 2006; thus, it should not come as a surprise that “the social media corporation” itself has been a matter of considerable interest in the present.
This comes after Elon Musk came close to finalizing his acquisition of the firm for $44 billion in October, followed by alterations in the company’s management and policies.
In April, the owner of SpaceX and Tesla made a bid to acquire Twitter, stating that he wishes to promote “free speech” and abolish Twitter’s lifetime ban on particular users. One of those individuals might be the former president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Musk wrote a series of postings ahead of seizing control of the firm and detailed the events that were going to occur during the changeover.
“Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” he wrote. “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes,” to which he added that no such changes had been made yet.
To be super clear, we have not yet made any changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies https://t.co/k4guTsXOIu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 29, 2022
Furthermore, Musk said that rapper Ye’s account had been “restored by Twitter before the acquisition” without his knowledge.
Evidence suggests that Kanye West had his account momentarily disabled in October due to antisemitic comments that he had placed there but were later deleted and on November 2, though, he began tweeting again.
Regardless, there was never an official cancellation of his account, and he was never blocked from accessing it. The New York Times reports that Twitter banned him from posting and simply deleted the objectionable material.
The Daily Beast reports that when the offending tweet was removed from Twitter’s servers, West’s read-only status was lifted.
Do you want to be brought up with the latest information on Twitter’s planned changes as well as the reactions of public figures, film producers, and authors? Let us know!
During this time, some users with well-known profiles, or at the very least, well-known names, announced their plans to quit the network or take a break from it.
Toni Braxton, Shonda Rhimes, Sara Bareilles and many more have said that they are leaving.
However, some individuals are pushing users to remain on the site in order to continue to communicate their opinions — at least up to the next midterm elections.
Rob Reiner, an activist and director, tweeted the following message: “For those who are fighting to preserve our Constitutional Democracy, now is not the time to leave Twitter. Now is the time to VOTE BLUE!”
For those who are fighting to preserve our Constitutional Democracy, now is not the time to leave Twitter. Now is the time to VOTE BLUE!
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) October 28, 2022
Several leftists on the network have said that they will remain for the time being, but they will undoubtedly go as soon as Trump is allowed to reactivate his Twitter account, which is something that Musk has hinted he would probably do.
After Musk’s entrance, Braxton saw an increase in the amount of “free speech,” and she said that she was “shocked and disturbed” by it.
She expressed in a tweet that, “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.”
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.
— Toni Braxton (@tonibraxton) October 29, 2022
Following Toni Braxton, Shonda Rhimes and Sara Bareilles expressed their view in their tweets:
Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye.
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) October 29, 2022
Welp. It’s been fun Twitter. I’m out. See you on other platforms, peeps. Sorry, this one’s just not for me. ❤️🙏🏼
— Sara Bareilles (@SaraBareilles) October 30, 2022
It would seem that actress Téa Leoni has completely removed her account from social media. According to NBC News, the following is the final tweet she sent on October 29: “Hi everyone. I’m coming off Twitter today — let’s see where we are when the dust settles. Today the dust has revealed too much hate, too much in the wrong direction. Love, kindness, and possibilities for all of you.”
In addition to that, there were others. Alex Winter, Ken Olin, executive producer of This Is Us, and Brian Koppelman, showrunner for Billions, have all made it plain that they are quitting Twitter.
Josh Gad, a star at Disney, has said that he is contemplating leaving the company. The line “Not here for now” was added to Winter’s bio, and all of his previous entries were removed.
On October 28, Olin is said to have made the announcement, “I’m out of here,” adding the phrase “Let’s protect our democracy.”
Hey all –
I’m out of here. No judgement.
Let’s keep the faith.
Let’s protect our democracy.
Let’s try to be kinder.
Let’s try to save the planet.
Let’s try to be more generous.
Let’s look to find peace in the world.
💙— Ken Olin (@kenolin1) October 28, 2022
Koppelman tweeted, “Y’all, come find me on instagram and the tok. Going to attempt to take a breather at deal closure.
Gad wasn’t sure he’d remain.
“Leaning toward staying” adding, “but if today is a sign of things to come, not sure what the point is.” Freedom of speech is great. Hate speech intended to cite harm, (with no consequences) ain’t what I signed up for.
Large exodus happening on this platform. Not sure if I stay or not. Leaning toward staying, but if today is a sign of things to come, not sure what the point is. Freedom of speech is great. Hate speech intended to incite harm, (with no consequences) ain’t what I signed up for.
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) October 29, 2022
He shared a news release that said 40 civil-society organizations had demanded that Twitter’s major advertisers cease sponsoring the site “if Elon Musk continues to undermine brand and user safety.” He also shared the press release on his own Twitter account. In addition to this, he expanded upon a tweet by novelist Stephen King in which King voiced his opposition to Musk’s intention to charge users for verified status.
Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.
Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
Recently, the author Stephen King expressed his disagreement with Elon Musk’s plan to charge customers for the privilege of having their accounts verified.
Elon Musk has replied to Stephen King’s outraged response to the news that he intends to charge all verified users for the ability to display their blue checkmark. In doing so, Musk has acknowledged that the startling and divisive notion is currently being developed.
On Monday, King’s response to a claim that Musk wants to charge verified users a staggering $20 per month to preserve their checkmark status went viral:
“$20 a month to keep my blue check?” King spoke with his 6.9 million followers via tweets.
“Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.” When a reader told King he could afford the fee, the best-selling author replied, “It ain’t the money, it’s the principle of the thing.”
$20 a month to keep my blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) October 31, 2022
Nate Silver, the political expert at FiveThirtyEight, sent a similar message to the 3.5 million people who follow him on Twitter: “I’m probably the perfect target for this, use Twitter a ton, can afford $20/mo, not particularly anti-Elon, but my reaction is that I’ve generated a ton of valuable free content for Twitter over the years and they can go fuck themselves.”
Early on Tuesday morning, Musk replied to the outrage by directly addressing King and said, “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot entirely rely on advertisers. How about $8?
Musk then made the following statement, which seemed to imply that more elucidation on the subject is yet to come: “I will explain the rationale in longer form before this is implemented. It is the only way to defeat the bots & trolls.” It is the only strategy that will be effective against the bots and trolls.
Still later, Musk seemed to back down on the notion, as well as his proposed lower pricetag, by framing the cost as populist empowerment: “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.”
With these new modifications on Twitter, Hollywood celebrities are also quitting the platform.
According to The Verge, Musk wants to make Twitter Blue, a $4.99 premium service that lets users modify tweets, obligatory for verified users.
Users have 90 days to subscribe or lose their blue checkmark. According to reports, Musk informed program staff they must adopt the new guidelines by Nov. 7 or be dismissed. Musk has tweeted in the past that “the whole verification procedure is being revamped right now.” A new show has yet to be announced as we hold our hearts for the news of Twitter modifications.
