Sir Elton John is the latest celebrity to quit Twitter following Elon Musk’s takeover.
Since the Tesla founder bought the social media platform, many famous faces have stepped back due to various controversies, including users being able to pay for a ‘blue tick’ – and thus verification – and the rolling back of a policy aimed at tackling misinformation related to Covid-19 on the social media platform.
Now, Sir Elton has revealed he is leaving the platform due to the risk of misinformation being spread, and the Rocketman legend insisted it goes against his own music’s ethos.
He tweeted: ‘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.’
Many fans are were devastated to see him announce that he’s leaving the site.
‘Omg I’m so sad to hear this,’ wrote on follower, while another added: ‘I’m sad to hear that but I understand your decision’.
The likes of Stephen Fry have taken a stand, with the actor and writer only reactivating his account earlier this week ‘to prevent impersonation’ by someone who acquired ‘and paid for verification of this account’s username’.
His latest post added: ‘All tweets will be automatic every 30 days to prevent account lapsing into availability due to Twitter policy as it is understood.’
Meanwhile, Sir Elton’s decision comes just over a week after the European Union has warned Musk that Twitter could be banned from operating in the bloc if it does not follow the rules, as reported by the Financial Times.
Thierry Breton, the European Union’s commissioner for the internal market, was on a video call with the Twitter CEO when he gave the warning, according to the FT, which cited people with knowledge of the discussion.
‘Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and tackle disinformation,’ said Breton in a tweet last week.
Musk had previously said that he would set up a content moderation council with ‘widely diverse viewpoints’.
Before his takeover, the billionaire businessman said he believed Twitter should allow more free speech and that he would loosen content moderation to enable this to happen.
He has also allowed some previously suspended accounts to return, but has since suspended Kanye West’s account after he posted an image that appeared to show a symbol combining a swastika and a Jewish Star of David.
Musk said the US had ‘violated our rule against incitement to violence’.
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