A wave of X (formerly Twitter) users are reportedly deleting their accounts following Elon Musk’s controversial action during Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, and X CEO Elon Musk delivered a speech during the celebrations.
Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in Trump’s administration, acquired X in April 2022.
The billionaire has since alienated parts of X’s user base due to controversial changes, such as removing legacy blue verification ticks and replacing them with a paid subscription model priced at around $100 (£81) per year.
Despite these controversies, many X users have remained loyal. However, some are now abandoning the platform entirely after Musk’s apparent gesture during the inauguration.
After watching Musk’s speech, one user declared, “I’m leaving Twitter as long as it’s under the ownership of Elon Musk. I refuse to participate in the operation and success of this app… You can find me on BlueSky if you want.”
Along with an attachment of Musk’s speech, another user said, “And with that, I’m leaving Twitter. I will be locking this and all other accounts by midnight tonight. I will still be streaming, but I’ll be in other places. Bye for now!”
“That’s the final straw for me. I’m leaving Twitter,” a third user simply wrote.
Another commented, “Elon Musk is a joke. Leaving Twitter forever, bye.”
Even companies are exiting the platform, with U.K.-based brewery Northern Monk announcing their decision to step away.
In a statement, the brand said, “As a company, we are concerned by some of the discourse on this platform (X). Unity and inclusivity are central to our mission and values, so we will no longer be using X following this post.”
Still, other X users are defending Musk, suggesting that the apparent gesture was part of a calculated effort to boost engagement on the platform.
As one user speculated, “Musk may have done it just to pump X traffic.”
Musk sparked outrage on social media after making a one-armed gesture, placing his right hand over his heart and thrusting the same arm into the air and ahead of him.
Many have compared Musk’s arm movement to a Nazi salute, which was widely used in Italy before being adopted by Adolf Hitler in Germany.
The X CEO responded to the backlash on the platform, stating, “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
