The hashtag #leavingtwitter is currently trending following the acquisition of the company by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.
It is believed in some quarters that Musk’s ‘free speech’ mantra may turn Twitter into a jungle of vicious attacks and mindless bullying.
A Twitter user, Jameela Jamil expressed her “fear this free speech bid is going to help this hell platform reach its final form of totally lawless hate, bigotry, and misogyny.”
There are many who share her concerns. They may have initiated the hashtag, but there is no evidence anyone is leaving yet.
Indeed many of those using the hashtags seem to be tweeting for the sheer fun of it, while others are asking what the problem is with ‘free speech’.
A Twitter user, Mrs Doubtfizer is tweeting with @SandybeachPD, asked: “Why is #leavingtwitter trending? I simply can’t accept the fact, people prefer censorship, listen to lies than hearing the truth? Since when has truth become a sin?”
@19Defender86 tweeted: “@elonmusk now that the worst is #leavingtwitter can you remove the stupid COVID-19 column heading. Seriously, nobody wants that except the horrible folks restricting speech. We don’t need it now that we can discuss Ivermectin.”
Yogeshwar Advait: “Why is #leavingtwitter trending?! I hear the cancel culture and the censorship foot soldiers are panicking. No speech is hate speech. Free speech is absolutely a necessity to the survival of true democracy. Smart move by @elonmusk.
@_LogicalIndian_: “Millions of @Twitter users are trading #leavingtwitter today, they are anguished not because they fear they will be censored or suspended. But because they fear that people who disagree with them may not be censored, blocked or suspended.”
The conversation continues, and has generated over 24,000 tweets at the time of filing this report.
