Twitter Says Mass Deactivations Were ‘Organic’ Following News Of Musk Deal

(Fwrd Axis) — Twitter said Wednesday the “fluctuations in follower counts” came from “organic” account closures following the news Tesla CEO Elon Musk struck a deal to purchase the social media platform.

While several big names such as President Barack Obama lost 300,000 followers after Monday’s announcement, those on the political far-right, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) saw their follower counts increase from 539,000 followers the day before to 632,000 followers by Tuesday evening.

“While we continue to take action on accounts that violate our spam policy which can affect follower counts, these fluctuations appear to largely be a result of an increase in new account creation and deactivation,” Twitter said in a statement.

Popstar and American Idol judge Katy Perry lost more than 200,000 after the announcement.

“It really is something how conservative accounts are getting massive follower increases today,” Rep. Matt Gaetz said.

The news comes after Twitter announced Monday it has accepted billionaire Elon Musk’s offer to buy the social media company and take it private, closing a deal worth $44 billion.

EMusk has been a heavy critic of the platform, specifically how it regulates what people are allowed to say, referring to the social media company cracking down on misinformation, calls for violence, harassment, and conspiracy theories.

Republican politicians and conservative commentators have been vocal about the company ever since the company banned former President Donald Trump after his tweets regarding the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol.

“Under the terms of the agreement, Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing of the proposed transaction,” Twitter said in a statement. “The purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022.”