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Musk’s Twitter takeover prompts gains for some high-profile Republicans



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High-profile Republican members of Congress gained tens of hundreds of Twitter followers within the first few weeks of Elon Musk’s reign over the social media community, whereas their Democratic counterparts skilled a decline, in keeping with an evaluation by The Washington Post.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) all misplaced about 100,000 Twitter followers within the first three weeks of Musk’s possession of Twitter, whereas Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Jim Jordan (Ohio) gained greater than 300,000 every.

It’s troublesome to inform precisely why follower counts go up and down, and the counts are sometimes affected by Twitter banning bot accounts en masse. Not everybody following a selected politician is a supporter.

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Musk’s ‘free speech’ agenda dismantles security work at Twitter, insiders say

Still, the sample means that tens of hundreds of liberals could also be leaving the positioning whereas conservatives are becoming a member of or turning into extra lively, shifting the demographics of the positioning underneath Musk’s possession. The modifications are in keeping with a pattern that started in April, when Musk introduced his intention to purchase the corporate.

On common, Republicans gained 8,000 followers and Democrats misplaced 4,000. For its evaluation, The Post analyzed knowledge from ProPublica’s Represent tool, which tracks congressional Twitter exercise.

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Musk and Twitter didn’t reply to requests for remark.

‘Opening the gates of hell’: Musk says he’ll revive banned accounts

Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion late final month having pledged to carry his imaginative and prescient of free speech absolutism to the positioning. The day he took over, he mentioned Twitter wouldn’t grow to be “a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!” But customers instantly began testing the boundaries of the brand new website underneath Musk, prompting hate speech to briefly surge.

Since then, Musk launched and rolled again Twitter Blue Verified, a $7.99 month-to-month membership that places a verify mark subsequent to any account that pays. The transfer prompted an explosion of pretend accounts. Musk additionally fired about half the employees, and required the remainder of his employees to pledge to work lengthy hours or depart the corporate, considerably decreasing the variety of people who find themselves policing the positioning.

Musk additionally has restored a number of main rule-breaking accounts, together with former president Donald Trump’s, following an unrepresentative and unscientific Twitter ballot. On Thursday, after an identical ballot, he mentioned he would grant “general amnesty” for all banned accounts that didn’t put up spam or break the regulation.

Advertisers have been fleeing, elevating doubts in regards to the website’s means to become profitable. More than a 3rd of Twitter’s prime 100 entrepreneurs haven’t marketed on the social media community within the two weeks earlier than Tuesday, in keeping with a Washington Post evaluation.

Musk says he’s a political reasonable, however has agreed with right-wing figures on the positioning who accuse Twitter’s earlier administration of being biased towards conservatives. The day earlier than the midterms, he referred to as on his followers to vote Republican, breaking with custom of different social media CEOs who sometimes don’t explicitly endorse one get together over one other.

The proper wing and conservatives for years have accused Twitter of censorship with no proof. Many have cheered Musk’s takeover, saying it’s a motive to return to the positioning.

On the day Musk’s buy was finalized, Republican members of Congress noticed their follower counts skyrocket. Greene gained some 37,000 followers, as did Jordan, then the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. That identical day, Democrats’ follower counts plummeted, with Warren dropping practically 19,000 followers and Schiff dropping 13,000.

Musk doesn’t personal Twitter but, however conservatives are racking up followers

The pattern continued for days, with outstanding on-line Republicans gaining hundreds of followers and Democrats dropping them.

The identical factor occurred Nov. 19, when Musk introduced that he can be reactivating Trump’s account after holding a ballot through which any person might vote sure or no. Greene gained a further 45,000 followers, and Warren and Sanders every misplaced greater than 22,000. In the previous month, Greene has elevated her following by 330,000, a 28 p.c acquire, and Jordan by 290,000, an almost 10 p.c rise.



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