Pop icon Sir Elton John announced Friday he is leaving Twitter citing concerns about misinformation and the social media platform’s direction under new owner Elon Musk.
The singer-songwriter took to Twitter itself to announce his departure from it, outlining “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.”
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
The 75-year-old musician’s comments come after Musk, who bought the social media outlet for $44bn, said he was granting “general amnesty” for suspended accounts, which critics allege would enable “superspreaders of hate” to return to the platform, as Breitbart News reported.
Earlier this month the rapper Kanye West was suspended from Twitter less than two weeks after he returned to the platform, after he tweeted an image of a swastika blended with the Jewish symbol of a Star of David.
Other celebrities, who have departed since Musk’s arrival include Whoopi Goldberg, Gigi Hadid and Jim Carrey.
For his exit, Carrey also took to the media platform he said he now abhored:
I’m leaving Twitter, but 1st here’s a cartoon I made with my friend Jimmy Hayward. It’s based on my painting of a crazy old Lighthouse Keeper, standing naked in a storm, summoning the angels and shining his lamp to guide us through a treacherous night. I love you all so much! ;^j pic.twitter.com/Cqmp74A87r
— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) November 29, 2022
Last month, after Musk reinstated former President Donald Trump’s account, White Stripes vocalist and guitarist Jack White deleted his account, calling the Tesla CEO “absolutely disgusting” and claiming he only restored Trump’s account because he hates paying taxes.
Music producer Trent Reznor also declared he needed to delete his Twitter account for his “mental health” and that Musk’s takeover of the social media platform is an “embarrassment.”
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