Elton John is the latest celebrity to make the decision to leave Twitter following Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform. The British singer joins Gigi Hadid, Jim Carey, Shonda Rhimes, Toni Braxton, comic book creator Eric Larsen, Téa Leoni and Whoopi Goldberg, who all shut down their Twitter accounts last November.
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In his latest tweet posted today, the 75-year-old singer announced he would no longer be using the site as the tech billionaire has policies in place that allow “misinformation to thrive unchecked.”
“All my life I’ve tried to use music to bring people together. Still, it saddens me to see how misinformation is now being used to divide our world,” he tweeted.
“I have decided to stop using Twitter given the recent policy change that will allow misinformation to thrive. »
Musk recently announced that he is granting a “blanket amnesty” for suspended accounts, which many experts believe will lead to an increase in hate, harassment and conspiracy theories. Donald Trump’s previously suspended account has been restored.
Musk recently suspended rapper Kanye West’s account for a second time after he tweeted an anti-Semitic image.
Whoopi Goldberg announced her departure from Twitter on her show The View last November. She said: “I’ll go and when it settles down and I’m more comfortable, maybe I’ll come back. »
The producer and creator of numerous TV series, including Grey’s Anatomy, tweeted on Oct. 29: “I’m not going to hang around here to see what Elon Musk has planned. Goodbye! ‘ she had written.
Singer Tony Braxton had also posted a lengthy tweet to her 2 million subscribers, saying she was “shocked and appalled by a degree of ‘free speech’ she has seen on Twitter since taking over.
“Hate speech under the veil of ‘freedom of expression’ is unacceptable; Therefore I choose to stay away from Twitter as it is no longer a safe place for me, my sons and other POC (*People of Color).”
Model Gigi Hadid also deactivated her Twitter account last November. She had explained her decision on her Instagram account, stating that Twitter was becoming more and more “filled with hate and bigotry.” “I can’t say it’s a safe place for anyone or a social platform that does more good than harm. »
Finally, American singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles tweeted to her 3 million Twitter followers: “Twitter was fun. I’m sorry, that’s just not for me. »