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Elon Musk's pro-Trump stance causes progressives to flee X for liberal safe space
By Yael Halon
Published November 13, 2024
Liberal pundits and media outlets are fleeing the Elon Musk-owned platform, X, after President-elect Donald Trump won a second White House term.
Trump's reelection set off a wave of notable departures from the platform, which Musk has used to openly and loudly express his support for the president-elect. Liberal users are moving instead to Bluesky, a decentralized platform that has reportedly gained more than a million new users since the election, according to the New York Times.
Left-leaning publications and media figures have hailed the platform as an alternative to X without Trump-supporting Musk at the helm. The Guardian cited "experts" who described Bluesky as a "refuge from the far-right activism on X," while the Times reported that many of the new accounts created are "left-leaning."
The logo of social media platform Bluesky displayed on a mobile telephone and tablet, in Paris. The bluesky social network has soared to one of the top positions in social network downloads in app stores in the past week since the US election. ( (Photo by Ian LANGSDON / AFP) (Photo by IAN LANGSDON/AFP via Getty Images))
Last week, MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace told viewers that she deleted her X app in an "act of self-preservation."
"I deleted Twitter today as an act of self-preservation and because I was no longer able to find the things I was interested in. I was seeing a lot of things that I’m not," she said. Wallace's account remains active on the platform.
Ex-CNN host Don Lemon posted a statement announcing his departure from X on Wednesday, telling his 1.5M followers that "it's time for me to leave the platform."
"I once believed it was a place for honest debate and discussion, transparency and free speech, but I now feel it does not serve that purpose," he wrote, signing off his message with his new Bluesky handle.
Lemon cited X's new terms of service, which will go into effect later this week, as the final straw that led to his departure. The incoming terms mandate that all legal disputes be brought exclusively before Texas courts, where X is headquartered. Lemon cited the Washington Post's claim that the Texas courts will be a "hub for conservatives" which could "make it easier for X to shield itself from and punish critics."
Don Lemon on CNN discussing the presidential election. (Screenshot/CNN)
Earlier Wednesday, the Guardian announced that it would suspend all of its 80 accounts on X, slamming the platform as "toxic" while accusing Musk of "using its influence to shape political discourse," Deadline reported.
"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 Guardian told readers.
"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," the publication said.
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis also bid farewell to the platform on Wednesday, posting a screenshot of her account deactivation message with the caption, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can. And the wisdom to know the difference."
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 09: Jamie Lee Curtis at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim, California on August 09, 2024. ((Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Disney))
In a subsequent post on Bluesky, Curtis posted, "#WeDontNeedX."
The departures come one day after Trump announced that Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, aimed at "dismantling Government Bureaucracy" cutting "wasteful expenditures" and restructuring Federal Agencies.
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Musk, who prides himself as a "free speech absolutist", purchased the platform in April 2022 with his stated intention to make Twitter an even playing field for liberals and conservatives alike. His goal was to put an end to the grip liberal-heavy Sillicon Valley had on tech companies. Bluesky, was created in 2019 as a project by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey but became an independent company in 2022.
Bluesky did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/elon-musks-pro-trump-stance-causes-progressives-flee-x-liberal-safe-space