Civil rights activist Shaun King appears to have deleted his Twitter account hours after he said the social media giant’s takeover by billionaire Elon Musk was about “white power”.
The activist, who shot to fame during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, did not share a statement confirming his exit from Twitter.
His verified Twitter profile, however, appeared to have been deactivated as of Tuesday.
“At its root, [Elon Musk] wanting to purchase Twitter is not about left vs right. It’s about white power. The man was raised in Apartheid by a white nationalist,” Mr King had tweeted prior to Mr Musk’s takeover bid being approved by Twitter.
“He’s upset that Twitter won’t allow white nationalists to target/ harass people. That’s his definition of free speech,” the BLM activist had written.
The activist shared a screenshot of his tweet on Facebook on Tuesday. “I trended worldwide today because of this tweet. It’s true,” he wrote.
“Elon Musk has openly called himself a ‘free speech absolutist’ and said that he wants to create a space where anything can be said about anyone. That’s why white nationalists are giddy today. Here on Twitter and other platforms that I track daily. It’s dangerous,” he had said in another tweet.
"And listen, I don’t even like the Democratic Party. So for me, this isn’t about left vs right. Not at all. It’s about how the richest man in the world, a son of Apartheid, raised by a white nationalist, wants to be sure his speech, and that of other white men, isn’t censored," the activist and author said.
On Monday, when the 16-year-old platform’s sale to Mr Musk was announced, Mr King had taken a dig at the Tesla chief executive and said it effectively meant control of information by the richest man in the world.
“I truly think this is a very bad thing. For the richest man in the world to control the primary flow of information to the world,” Mr King had said in a Facebook post.
Musician Aneudi commented under the post, responding: “Twitter isn’t ‘the primary flow of information to the world’ and these social media apps are already owned by rich people.”
Mr Musk is now set to own Twitter, which has around 400 million users worldwide, after his $44bn takeover bid was approved by its board. If shareholders vote to approve the deal, the billionaire take the company private and has said he wants to make changes to unlock its “potential”.
The micro-blogging platform’s co-founder and former chief Jack Dorsey said the Tesla chief’s takeover is the “singular solution” he trusts.
“Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important,” current Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal said shortly after announcing the company’s decision to hand over the reigns to the business titan.
