Elton John Says He's Quitting Twitter And Elon Musk Tries To Get Him To Stay
Elton John, who recently announced he’s retiring from performing concerts in the U.S., said Friday that he’s also quitting Twitter.
And Twitter owner Elon Musk isn’t thrilled about it.
The legendary pianist tweeted he was leaving the social platform because of “misinformation”:
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
Musk tried to keep the door open for the “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” superstar to change his mind.
“Hope you come back,” Musk tweeted.
Then, in a strange aside, the world’s richest person asked what particular “misinformation” John found so bothersome.
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
Since Musk took over Twitter in late October, he’s eliminated a policy that allowed Twitter staff to remove “potentially harmful and misleading information” about the coronavirus.
He’s also allowed people who were previously suspended for spreading COVID misinformation, including extremist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), back on the platform.
Even if Musk doesn’t get why the current state of Twitter might not appeal to John or others, plenty of Twitter users were happy to fill in the blanks.
Elton John leaves Twitter because of the Rocket Man.
— Gordon Campbell (@gorcampbell) December 9, 2022
You routinely boost election deniers and conspiracy cranks by treating them like legitimate sources of information. pic.twitter.com/LgLdkRmD5X
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) December 9, 2022
Perhaps it's the unfettered Holocaust Denial unleashed by the unequivocal neo-Nazis that have returned to this platform under your watch. https://t.co/uuvFoGZJev
— Alheli Picazo (@a_picazo) December 9, 2022
Maybe umm ... for example ... the Nancy Pelosi's husband was beaten by a gay lover lie?
— Nina Burleigh (@ninaburleigh) December 9, 2022
Perhaps the fact that the new CEO was tweeting misinformation about the attack on Paul Pelosi was concerning, or that there were massive layoffs to the content moderation staff.
— Jeff Taylor (@jefftaylorhuman) December 9, 2022
Gonna go out on a limb here and suggest Elon isn't asking this question in good faith
Hopefully Elton will know it's folly to get sucked into Elon's black hole of bad faith https://t.co/XImqXqXUUg— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) December 9, 2022
Maybe the Nazis you’re letting back on Twitter might be a good place to start. You’re losing the super stars to the purveyors of hate and misinformation. Start there Elon. You know what you’re doing here and just playing stupid
— Jeff Kravitz (@jeffkravitz) December 9, 2022
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