Twitter is currently undergoing a phase of upheaval following a lengthy takeover process by tech billionaire Elon Musk, swiftly followed by massive layoffs that included top management.
The $44 billion dollar takeover was then followed by an announcement that the site would now charge users $8 per month to verify their accounts and allow access to a blue tick. The blue tick, a method used as an accuracy and verification tool by journalists and general audiences to check the authenticity of information, is based on a meritocratic system, one that will now be monetised. This in turn will make it harder to discern between genuine and false data.
Musk defends paid blue badge plans for Twitter
Furthermore, banned accounts are likely to return to Twitter.
Musk, a long-time advocate of free speech, is set to remove parameters that deter hateful and inciteful speech, the very same rules that got former US president Donald Trump banned from the platform.
These new changes to the platform and the effects it will have on content has prompted a flurry of celebrities getting up and signing off, in apparent disapproval of the new changes being implemented by Musk.
Twitter acquisition: $8 here, $8 there
American supermodel Gigi Hadid took to Instagram on Saturday to inform her 76.2 million followers that she would be deactivating her account due its "new leadership," calling it a "cesspool of hate and bigotry" and a social platform that will not do “more good than harm.”
Television producer Shonda Rhimes of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and the hit Netflix production ‘Bridgerton’ fame tweeted: "Not hanging around for what Elon has planned. Bye”
Grammy award winning singer Toni Braxton too, announced her intention to quit Twitter over the return of "hate speech."
Actress Jameela Jamil announced her intentions to quit Twitter this week on her Instagram page, citing how “this free speech bid is going to help this hell platform reach its final form of totally lawless hate, bigotry, and misogyny.”
Grammy award winning singer Sara Bareilles announced that she was leaving, announcing how the platform just wasn’t for her anymore.
Cheerios maker General Mills, Audi of America pause advertising on Twitter