A number of prominent Twitter users have lost — or gained — thousands of followers since the company announcedElon Musk’spurchase of the platform for $44 billion.
“While we continue to take action on accounts that violate our spam policy which can affect follower counts, these fluctuations appear to largely be a result of an increase in new account creation and deactivation,” Twitter said in a statement toBusiness Insider.
NBC News, the first outlet to report on the activity, noted that while Twitter did not provide specific numbers, the company said they were looking into the “fluctuations in follower counts” and described the flurry of account closures as “organic.”
A Twitter spokesperson who chose to remain anonymous told the outlet that “high-profile accounts” were the ones experiencing the biggest loss of followers.
Twitter did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Elon Musk.Pascal Le Segretain/Getty
Many of the accounts that saw the most pronounced decrease belonged to public figures with left-leaning political views, according to Business Insider.
Former PresidentBarack Obama, who remains the Twitter user with the most followers, lost over 300,000 followers since Monday’s announcement, per NBC News. As of Wednesday afternoon, he has around131.7 million followers.
ActorMark Hamill, a vocal critic of former PresidentDonald Trumpand his administration, also tweeted aboutlosing 8,000 followers"in the last couple of hours" following the takeover announcement. “Was it something I said?” he wrote.
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On the flip side, both NBC News and Business Insider noted that a number of big accounts on the right have gotten a significant amount of new followers in the same time frame.
Citing data from SocialBlade, Business Insider reported that Florida Gov.Ron DeSantisgained over 141,000 new followers on Tuesday. The outlet reported he typically gains an average of just over 5,000 followers a day.
“It really is something how conservative accounts are getting massive follower increases today,” Rep. Matt Gaetzwroteon Tuesday.
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News that Musk will buy Twitter has divided users, with many pointing towards Musk’s repeated statements aboutsupporting free speechon the platform.
While the move has been partly celebrated — with some Republicans hopingTrumpwill be allowed back on the platform, although Trump has claimedhe would not return— others, including a number of Democrats, fear what a Musk takeover will mean for the company, which is set to become privately held.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the deal “dangerous for democracy,” while actressJameela Jamilsaid shewould no longer be an active user.
“I fear this free speech bid is going to help this hell platform reach its final form of totally lawless hate, bigotry, and misogyny,” theGood Placealum wrote in what she has called her “last” tweet.
In a statement announcing the deal, Musk said that he wants “to make Twitter better than ever.”
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said. “Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
“I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law,” he continued. “If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.”
source: people.com
