Since Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter in October, there have been a slew of controversies sweeping over the platform. From issues over verifications to the unbanning of controversial figures and a surge in racism and antisemitism, the world of Twitter seems to be going through massive upheaval. And although Musk’s grip over Twitter is tight, people are still leaving the platform of over 368 million monthly active users. 

It all started on April 14th, with Musk making a bid to buy the company for $44 billion. After this, Musk implemented wide-sweeping reforms, including trying to make Twitter more profitable. This started by stating he would fire and layoff a large portion of the staff, leading to roughly 50% of the overall staff leaving. He then made it so that verification check marks next to people’s Twitter handles could be purchased. This resulted in a massive uproar from across the platform. 

As a result of the layoffs and changes, large numbers of bot accounts have increased across the platform. These bots have started trickling into the mainstream of Twitter’s algorithms, leading to a large increase in fake news. The changes have also resulted in a spike of anti-semitic and racist tweets. It doesn’t end here, however, as Musk himself has been tweeting and retweeting news stories that haven’t been fully backed-up or proven, furthering fake news on the platform.

The tweets from Musk himself have become more and more distant from reality. From letting Twitter polls decide the policies of the platform, to saying that Dr. Fauci should be investigated for potential COVID-19 misinformation, his tweets have furthered the fake news that is now all too common on the platform. Musk has posted memes about COVID-19 misinformation, identity politics, and living in a simulation. His tweets have received large amounts of backlash. Yet at the same time, praise as his Twitter account becomes more and more unhinged and political. 

As if this was not enough, Musk and Twitter have banned and unbanned accounts across the platform. While this does not seem bad in and of itself, his bans were directed initially to journalists from large organizations like the New York Times and Washington Post. With these bans has also come one of his most controversial unbans, that of Donald Trump’s Twitter account. And while the former President has not used the account, the fact alone that it is open and could be used again scares many as political polarization spreads further in the United States. Other notable figures that have been unbanned include Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, and briefly Kanye West. 

While we all have our opinions on the current state of Twitter, it is needless to say the platform and owner have seen large amounts of controversy in the past couple of months. From the furthering of fake news and monetization policies, the platform has been in upheaval for months. While there is still a future for the platform, it is unknown where it is going.