Elon Musk surpassed former President Barack Obama as the most-followed person on Twitter this year, months after he bought the company and has used it to wade deeper into the political sphere. Musk knocked Obama from the No. 1 spot in late March, less than two months after he reportedly ordered engineers to create an algorithm to boost his own posts so more users see them, a mechanism that flooded timelines with Musk Tweets, users observed. As of Thursday, Musk had 145.5 million followers, compared to Obama’s 132.2 million.
After Musk and Obama, Justin Bieber (112 million), Cristiano Ronaldo (108 million) and Rihanna (108 million) rank in the top 5. Musk, who describes himself as a “free speech absolutist,” reinstated a number of accounts suspended for hate speech, including Trump, conservative Christian satirical news site, the Babylon Bee, and neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin.
Hate speech on the platform has risen as a result, according to a December report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate that found slurs against gay men, Black Americans and antisemitic posts all increased after Musk bought the company. The moves come as Musk has increasingly veered to the right of the political spectrum. He urged his followers to vote for Republicans in the midterm election, has publicly feuded with President Joe Biden and hosted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s GOP presidential campaign announcement on Twitter Spaces in a discussion that was plagued by glitches.
Source: Forbes
In other news – I hate being told what to do – Emtee sets the record straight
Emtee sets the record straight once again about not having a manager.
Months ago, the rapper whose real name is Ndevu Mthembeni told his followers that he doesn’t have a manager and he isn’t set to have anyone manage him for now. The issue was raised again by a follower who urged him to get a social media manager. Learn more
