Robert Smith announces departure from X: “It’s time to go”
Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure, has announced his departure from the popular app X, previously known as Twitter.
When Elon Musk became CEO of the app in 2022, many notable people began removing themselves from the platform due to the company’s inability to accurately fact-check content, the increase in hate speech, and the rapid spread of dangerous misinformation.
While Musk has since handed over the managing of the app to Linda Yaccarino, X is still an uneasy online space. Over the past few years, X has been a topic of conversation for many people interested in keeping social media as safe as possible. With an increase in far-right content, more porn bot accounts, and a drastic change to how profiles are verified, many issues have changed X for the worse.
Smith has finally stepped down from the app, writing, “19TH JANUARY 2025. TIME TO GO. ANY OTHER ACCOUNT ON TWITTER CLAIMING TO BE ME IS A LIE.” He added, “I MAY FROM TIME TO TIME BE HERE,” before posting links to some of his other social media accounts on Instagram, Bluesky, and Mastodon. “OTHERWISE I WILL LIKELY BE OUTSIDE,” he concluded.
The musician isn’t the only famous figure to recently step down from social media. Michael Stipe, vocalist of R.E.M., has announced his week-long social media boycott. He wrote on Instagram, “I’ll be logged off for the week. Please consider doing the same so corporations like Meta can imagine there might be consequences for helping advance the far right in America and worldwide.”
“Are we too addicted we can’t log off even for one week?,” he added, “It’s so gross. I’m really happy to step away for a week as some form of protest—and then I’ll come back and decide what to do from there.”
Mark Zuckerberg recently announced Meta is changing the way content is fact-checked on its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, which is why Stipe is boycotting their platforms.
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