‘It’s been fun Twitter – I’m out’

ELON Musk pledged to make getting rid of spam accounts one of his main priorities after buying Twitter — but there is another mounting exodus that he perhaps did not intend.

Fears over Musk’s potentially loose stance on content moderation has plenty of genuine users considering their future on the platform, including some of its famous faces. So while Twitter could, before too long, welcome back some of its most infamous banned accounts — chief among them Donald Trump — it may soon be saying goodbye to even more. Here is a running list of a few celebrities who are fleeing the nest ... or threatening to do so:

Stephen King

e horror author has been a consistent tweeter for almost nine years, but said he would quit if Musk goes ahead with reported plans to move Twitter’s verification badges behind a paid subscription.

“$20 a month to keep my blue check? F*** that, they should pay me,” he tweeted to his 6,9 million followers. “If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron (an American energy company which went under).”

Toni Braxton

Grammy-winning R&B artist Braxton has already headed out — telling her two million followers she was “shocked and appalled at some of the ‘free speech’” she had seen on Twitter since the Musk deal closed.

A commitment to free speech was at the heart of Musk’s pitch for the site, though he has insisted he will not let it become a socalled “free-for-all hellscape”.

Braxton said: “Hate speech under the veil of ‘free speech’ is unacceptable; therefore I am choosing to stay off Twitter as it is no longer a safe space for myself, my sons and other POC (people of colour).”

Sarah Bareilles

Another Grammy winner, Bareilles has also gone through with her departure.

“Welp. It’s been fun Twitter. I’m out,” she wrote. “See you on other platforms, peeps. Sorry, this one’s just not for me.”

Eric Idle

Monty Python favourite Idle echoed King’s concerns about Musk’s payment proposals.

“I’m sure Elon will want to start making his money back,” the 79-year-old said. “But if he charges me to entertain you, and he lets the orange monster back, I think I may decline.” e “orange monster” is believed to be a reference to Donald Trump.

LeBron James

e NBA legend has not closed his account, but shared his concerns about a reported surge in the use of racist language on Twitter following Musk’s takeover.

Tweeting to his more than 52 million followers on October 29, the day of his most recent tweet, James said: “I dont know Elon Musk and, tbh, I could care less who owns Twitter. But I will say that if this is true, I hope he and his people take this very seriously because this is scary. So many damn unfit people saying hate speech is free speech.” — Sky News.