Rock legend Elton John has announced that he will no longer use Twitter because of the social media service’s “change in policy which will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked.”
Since business magnate Elon Musk‘s acquisition of Twitter in October, hate speech has seen an unprecedented rise on the platform, according to The New York Times. But John’s statement seems to reference a more recent change to Twitter — as of Nov. 23, the website said it would no longer enforce its COVID-19 disinformation policy, according to Fox News.
“All my life I’ve tried to use music to bring people together,” John tweeted on Friday (Dec. 9). “Yet it saddens me to see how misinformation is now being used to divide our world.”
The musician added, “I’ve decided to no longer use Twitter, given their recent change in policy which will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked.”
Twitter users first noticed the change to the platform’s online rules regarding COVID last week. Per NPR, the one-sentence addendum reads, “Effective November 23, 2022, Twitter is no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy.”
Under its previous COVID misinformation policy, Twitter said it would remove “demonstrably false or potentially misleading content that has the highest risk of causing harm.”
Several rock musicians have commented on Elon Musk since his Twitter takeover. Musk, who once planned a brain chip for implanting music, recently roasted Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor on the site. A thrash metal drummer is suing Musk.
Elton John Leaves Twitter – Dec. 9, 2022
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