Award-winning musician Elton John made the announcement that he is leaving Twitter due to changes in the platform’s policies and “unchecked” false information.
Elton John stated on Friday in a tweet, “My entire life, I’ve worked to utilize music to unite people. I am nevertheless saddened to see how false information is currently being utilized to polarize our world. Given Twitter’s recent policy change, which will allow false information to go unchecked, I’ve chosen to stop using it.”
All my life I’ve tried to use music to bring people together. Yet it saddens me to see how misinformation is now being used to divide our world.
I’ve decided to no longer use Twitter, given their recent change in policy which will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked.— Elton John (@eltonofficial) December 9, 2022
Elon Musk, the billionaire and CEO of Twitter, responded to the tweet. “I enjoy your music. “I hope you return,” Musk said. “Is there any specific misinformation about which you are concerned?”
I love your music. Hope you come back. Is there any misinformation in particular that you’re concerned about?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022
Following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in late October, a number of celebrities, including producer Shonda Rhimes and singer Toni Braxton, announced their intention to leave the social media platform. Many people expressed concern that changes to Twitter would allow hate speech and inappropriate content to spread, and researchers observed an “immediate” spike in “vulgar and hostile” rhetoric.
