Dump Twitter

Which raises a question. Why is anybody who deplores Trump’s reelection and Musk’s own degradation of public discourse with racism, antisemitism, misogyny, union-busting, endorsements of violence, the spreading of hateful untruths, and all-around vulgarity still playing in Musk’s sandbox? If you hate such things, why do you still maintain an account on Twitter?

I quit the place nearly two years ago. I’d been thinking about it for five months, starting around the time Musk retweeted the vile and wholly unfounded rumor that the hammer-wielding intruder who attacked and nearly killed Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, while yelling “Where’s Nancy?” was a male prostitute with whom Paul Pelosi had gotten into a drunken fight. (He was not. The attacker, Dave DePape, was precisely the far-right whack-job hater we supposed him to be.) I also felt queasy that the place was becoming a haven for antisemitism. During the first two weeks after Musk took control of Twitter, the Anti-Defamation League found, the volume of antisemitic tweets jumped 61 percent, and a few weeks after I left, Musk confirmed my suspicions by himself posting an antisemitic tweet about George Soros. It turned out Musk was just getting started (not that this ever bothered the Musk sycophant and prize hypocrite Bill Ackman, a much more energetic crusader against antisemitism than I pretend to be). NPR’s departure from Twitter after Musk labeled it “state-affiliated media” finally persuaded me to quit in solidarity.

As a journalist, my livelihood depends to some extent on reaching readers through social media, and Twitter, even in its diminished state after Musk bought it, still seemed like the best venue. I’ve since learned that Twitter’s once vaunted reputation as a driver of traffic is fading fast; at The New Republic, it’s no longer a significant referrer. But well before I knew that, I concluded that I couldn’t live with myself if I stayed. How could I face my children? How could I explain myself to readers? After I left, evidence of the site’s toxicity continued to pile up. I would ask my liberal friends: Why are you still on Twitter, or X, or whatever it’s called? They would look at me sheepishly. I tried not to get self-righteous about it, but quietly, I was shocked.