Increased hate speech, inappropriate content and the costs incurred for verified accounts – the frustration over the decline of Twitter is not only growing for Stephen King. To show the dangerous direction in which the platform is moving, some are now even letting Donald Trump “die”.
“$20 a month to keep my blue verification badge?” an outraged Stephen King tweeted Tuesday. The horror author reacted to a push by the new Twitter boss, Elon Musk, to earn money in the future by awarding the symbols that guarantee the authenticity of a Twitter profile. “Fuck it, they should pay me,” King added. If payment is actually introduced, he will leave the social media platform.
After King’s tweet went viral, Musk spoke up personally and struck a more forgiving tone towards the writer. “We have to pay the bills somehow,” the richest man in the world justified himself. Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. Charging a fee is “the only way to defeat bots and trolls,” he continued, suggesting, “How about eight bucks?” Shortly thereafter, Musk officially confirmed the $8 subscription via tweet.
In another tweet, he made it clear that King, who is responsible for bestsellers like “Shining” or “Es”, is not concerned with the amount of the costs. The 75-year-old replied to a fan who said King could afford the money: “It’s not the money, it’s the principle of the thing.”
However, the costs incurred are not the only reason why many users, including numerous celebrities, have let their anger run free and have already announced that they are leaving the platform. They are increasingly concerned that hate speech and other inappropriate content will be allowed on the platform. Elon Musk is campaigning for more “freedom of expression” on Twitter – including restoring profiles previously banned for spreading fake news or inciting violence. Those accounts included that of former US President Donald Trump.
Critics fear Musk’s actions could result in Twitter becoming a haven for trolls and right-wing conspiracy theorists. For example, the New Contagion Research Institute found through analyzes that the use of the N-word on Twitter increased by almost 500 percent in the first twelve hours after the Musk takeover.
In response to this, more and more deliberately false reports about the alleged death of Donald Trump have now appeared. The hashtag has been trending ever since Musk announced the paid subscription
“Trump, I’m sorry to say that sounds like he’s going to die here,” Heidecker tweeted. “I actually think he might have a very serious illness that he’s dying of. We don’t know, but it’s not good.” A number of users responded that they had heard similar news about Trump’s poor health.
A short time later, one user said: “It’s official, Trump has died”. He also posted an image manipulated to look like it was from the CNN news site. The fake article said Trump “died of autoerotic asphyxiation at his home in Florida” on Tuesday.
