Users flee from Elon Musk’s X: 60,000 people deactivated their X accounts on average each day in one week alone
The exodus continues...
The exodus continues...
Today
Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward
After Elon Musk’s failure to combat misinformation and extremism on X, formerly Twitter, users are continuing to leave the social media platform in a mass exodus.
The Financial Times reported that one week in November alone, ‘saw 60,000 people deactivate their accounts on average each day’, citing data from SimilarWeb.
The paper reports: “Professions including teachers (#edutwitter) and doctors (#medicaltwitter) have used the site formerly known as Twitter to foster community and exchange ideas. It has provided illuminating commentary on office life and a way for freelancers to promote themselves and network. Now, many are abandoning a career resource and questioning where else they can find the benefits it offered.”
It comes after the Guardian announced that it would no longer be posting on X. The paper said that it thinks the ‘benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere’.
It went on to add: “The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
The Financial Times reported that one week in November alone, ‘saw 60,000 people deactivate their accounts on average each day’, citing data from SimilarWeb.
The paper reports: “Professions including teachers (#edutwitter) and doctors (#medicaltwitter) have used the site formerly known as Twitter to foster community and exchange ideas. It has provided illuminating commentary on office life and a way for freelancers to promote themselves and network. Now, many are abandoning a career resource and questioning where else they can find the benefits it offered.”
It comes after the Guardian announced that it would no longer be posting on X. The paper said that it thinks the ‘benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere’.
It went on to add: “The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
Yesterday
Left Foot Forward
'Well good luck with that, because I think last time I saw, Musk was a United States citizen so to give it [the donation] to Reform would be illegal'
Left Foot Forward
'Well good luck with that, because I think last time I saw, Musk was a United States citizen so to give it [the donation] to Reform would be illegal'
Left-wing journalist Paul Mason has hit out against reports that Elon Musk is planning on giving a $100 million donation to Reform UK.
Appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips yesterday, Mason dismissed the Tesla and X owner’s alleged plans to provide financial backing to Farage’s party to the tune of $100 million, or around £78 million, ahead of the 2029 election.
Addressing the claims, Mason said: “Well good luck with that, because I think last time I saw, Musk was a United States citizen so to give it [the donation] to Reform would be illegal”.
Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, donations are restricted to ‘permissible donors,’ which include individuals registered to vote in the UK or companies registered in the UK.
As a US citizen, this means Musk is therefore not able to make a personal donation to Reform UK.
However, it has been suggested that the tech billionaire could get around this rule by donating money through X’s UK subsidiary. Critics argue that this highlights the need for the government to reform election laws, including by capping political donations and introducing stricter reporting requirements for donations.
At a press conference last week, Farage addressed a question from an FT reporter about whether Trump and Musk would back Reform in the next election, suggesting they would: “Well, that’s what friends are for, isn’t it?”.
Former Tory MP Steve Baker also weighed in on the issue during an interview with Times Radio, calling the rumoured donation a waste of £100 million.
Baker said that people “loathe” Farage over Brexit, in the same way that they “loathe” him, adding that he has at least made “emollient” speeches about Brexit since the referendum.
He said: “No amount of money is going to make Nigel Farage popular with the people who he currently repels […] people loathe him over Brexit […] he would be wasting $100m”.
Baker also said that such a donation would be “breaking the spirit of the rules”.
Musk has not confirmed whether he is making the $100 million donation, but his father Errol Musk told GB News today that his son should donate the money ahead of the next general election, and suggested he might even consider becoming a UK citizen in order to do so.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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