Dec 9 (Reuters) – British musician Elton John stop Twitter on Friday, the newest high-profile superstar to depart the social media platform following its acquisition by billionaire Elon Musk.
John, who’s at present on his last-ever world tour, blamed Twitter’s current coverage change as a motive for quitting.
“All my life I’ve tried to make use of music to convey individuals collectively. But it saddens me to see how misinformation is now getting used to divide our world,” John tweeted to his 1.1 million followers.
“I’ve determined to now not use Twitter, given their current change in coverage which is able to enable misinformation to flourish unchecked.”
The 75-year-old activist and singer of hits similar to “Tiny Dancer” and “Rocket Man” joins an extended listing of celebrities who’ve stop Twitter not too long ago together with supermodel Gigi Hadid, author Shonda Rhimes and former White Stripes guitarist Jack White.
“I really like your music. Hope you come again. Is there any misinformation specifically that you simply’re involved about?” Musk mentioned in a reply to John’s tweet on Friday.
For the reason that Tesla Inc high boss took over Twitter in a $44 billion deal, a sequence of modifications together with charging customers for a “blue tick”, the roll-back of a coverage geared toward tackling misinformation associated to COVID-19 and reinstating some beforehand suspended accounts, together with that of former U.S. President Donald Trump, has attracted widespread backlash.
Musk has additionally halved the corporate’s workforce and made deep cuts to its belief and security crew, which is accountable for stopping the unfold of misinformation and dangerous content material.
Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Anil D’Silva and Sherry Jacob-Phillips
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