Users flee Elon Musk's X for rival Bluesky amid rising concerns over hate speech, misinformation
Seattle: In a significant shift in the social media landscape, hundreds of thousands of users have reportedly left Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) in the past week, with over a million new users joining the rival platform Bluesky. The mass migration follows the results of the recent U.S. elections, with many citing increasing concerns over hate speech, misinformation, and the growing influence of Musk’s political affiliations on the platform.
Users have been gradually leaving the microblogging platform for several months, but this exodus appears to have accelerated in the wake of Musk’s ownership and his public support for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Critics argue that under Musk's leadership, X has evolved from a platform for open discourse to one that amplifies far-right views, raising concerns over free speech and the proliferation of harmful content.
With Musk now heading the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration, his previous claims about maintaining platform neutrality seem increasingly outdated. In 2022, Musk stated, “For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally.” However, his actions and political ties in recent months have raised doubts about his commitment to this principle.
Bluesky, which began as an internal project led by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, has emerged as a popular social media alternative, amassing 16 million users in a short time. Last week alone, the platform gained a million new users within 24 hours. While Bluesky’s user base still pales in comparison to X’s approximately 317 million active users, its appeal lies in its open and decentralised structure, which allows users greater control over the content they see and share.
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Vinod Tawde seeks apology from Kharge, Rahul through legal notice, warns of defamation lawsuit
Cash-for-vote row
New Delhi, Nov 22: BJP leader Vinod Tawde has demanded an apology from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for making "false and baseless" allegations against him in the cash-for-votes incident in Maharashtra, saying if they don't he would sue them for defamation.
Tawde was accused by Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, a regional party, of distributing Rs 5 crore to woo voters, with its members barging into a hotel room on November 19 in a Mumbai suburb, where the BJP leader was present.
The former Maharashtra minister and BJP national general secretary claimed innocence, saying the alleged amount was not recovered in the probe by the Election Commission and police.
"The Congress only believes in spreading lies, and this incident is a proof of the party's low level politics to dent me and my party's image," Tawde said.
The two Congress leaders and the party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate seized on the row to accuse the BJP of using money power to influence the November 20 assembly polls in the state.
The legal notice sent to the three claimed that they were aware that they were pushing a "totally false story fabricated" by them.
"You all have deliberately, mischievously with the sole intention of damaging the reputation of our client intentionally fabricated the story distribution of money. You all have published false, baseless allegations against our client on various media for tarnishing his image in the eyes of right thinking people in the society," the notice read.
The Congress leaders were in a "great hurry" to damage Tawde's reputation, they did not bother to check the fact and or despite knowing the entire fact they made the false, baseless allegations, it said.
"The entire imputation made by you all are totally false, baseless, malicious and mala fide and as our client is in no way involved in any such illegal activity and as a responsible office bearer of the national political party he is aware of his duties," it added.
The notice demanded an "unconditional apology" to Tawde within 24 hours from the time the receipt of the notice, which was sent on November 21, and published in newspapers and X.
If they do not offer apology, then Tawde will initiate criminal proceedings under Section 356, which covers defamation, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and also civil proceedings for the damages of Rs 100 crore against the three Congress leaders, the notice said.
