Journalists, ‘Swifties,’ and Left-Wing Figures Blast X as ‘Toxic’ and Flee After Trump’s Election Victory

Liberal users are leaving X in a huff in the wake of President Trump’s 2024 election victory over the support of its owner, Elon Musk, for the President-elect and the platform’s right-ward shift.Journalist Don Lemon posted a video on X announcing he was leaving the platform, saying he “once believed it was a place for honest debate and discussion, transparency and free speech.” However, he says it “does not serve that purpose” now.” He pointed to the new terms of service set to go into effect on November 15. The updated terms state: “All disputes related to these Terms or the Services, including without limitation disputes related to or arising from other users’ and third parties’ use of the Services and any Content made available by other users and third parties on the Services, will be brought exclusively in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas or state courts located in Tarrant County, Texas, United States.”Mr. Lemon cited an article from the Washington Post, which said the district X chose to hear disputes is a “hub for conservative judges” and could “make it easier for X to shield itself from litigation and punish critics.”Mr. Lemon is far from the only mainstream journalist or public figure to make a public statement about leaving X and attacking the platform and Mr. Musk after the 2024 election. The Guardian newspaper in Britain also announced that it will no longer post its content on X. In a note to its readers, the Guardian said, “We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere.”“The U.S. presidential election 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,” it added.X did not respond to a request from the Sun for comment. Since Mr. Musk bought the platform in 2022 and changed its name to X while promising to make it a free speech haven, there has been concern among mainstream news outlets, liberal commentators, and other public figures, over a loosening of the company’s content moderation. In 2023, NPR said it would no longer post on X after the platform labeled it “state-affiliated media.” In the week since Trump’s victory on November 5, which Mr. Musk campaigned for, an X rival, Bluesky, reported that it had gained 1 million new users. A mixture of frustration with the content being promoted on X ahead of and after the election and Mr. Musk’s support of Trump are seen as significant factors for the exodus. Some prominent new users include Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and billionaire Mark Cuban. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis also said she deactivated her X account following the election. Fans of the pop star Taylor Swift have also complained of what they say is an increase in misogynistic comments in the wake of the election and announced they are leaving the platform. An organizer of Swifties for Harris, Irene Kim, said X has “definitely become such a hellscape.” She also took issue with a change in X’s policy that lets users see profiles and posts of people who have blocked them. Mr. Musk has increased the number of posts on X about conservative causes since acquiring the platform. The billionaire owner frequently amplifies posts from conservative users by sharing them with his audience of more than 200 million users.Even if users do not follow Mr. Musk or see his posts, multiple reports analyzing the content on the platform, which conservatives used to assail over its alleged censorship, have suggested conservative content is being promoted. Researchers at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public found that posts from smaller conservative accounts about the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump received 1.2 million reposts, NBC News reports. By contrast, posts from traditional news outlets received 98,064 reposts despite having larger followings. The Washington Post also noted that a majority of the posts on X that went viral on the platform tended to be from conservative accounts that shared content with the same “political bent” as Mr. Musk. However, it added it is “almost impossible to say whether X is explicitly suppressing Democrats.”“The shift in attention could reflect changing attitudes among users who have stuck around, given that many left-wing users have said they left the platform of their own accord, annoyed by Musk’s antics and X’s redrawn rules,” the Post said. While left-wing journalists, politicians, actors, and other figures are fleeing X, the platform’s chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, said on Wednesday its “usage is at an all-time high and continues to surge.”

Journalists, ‘Swifties,’ and Left-Wing Figures Blast X as ‘Toxic’ and Flee After Trump’s Election Victory

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