Democratic Lawmakers Flee Twitter, Join Open-Source Platform Mastodon Amid Elon Musk's Ownership

Strategic Insights -

A growing number of Democratic lawmakers have joined open-source social network Mastodon in protest of Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter. At least a dozen Democratic lawmakers and two congressional panels have joined Mastodon in the past month, seeking a platform where misinformation is not actively embraced by the leadership. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) cited Musk's "anti-democratic worldview" and concerns about content moderation as reasons for joining Mastodon. Despite their complaints, none of the lawmakers have said they plan to leave Twitter, which has a far larger user base.

Key Takeaways:

  • A dozen Democratic lawmakers and two congressional panels have joined Mastodon in the past month.
  • Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) cited Musk's "anti-democratic worldview" as a reason for joining Mastodon.
  • Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) joined Mastodon due to growing concerns about content moderation and Twitter's stability.
  • The House Budget Committee and the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee have also launched Mastodon accounts to reserve their usernames.
  • Democratic staffers are making contingency plans in case Trump takes Twitter's reins again.
  • Daniel Schuman, policy director at the left-leaning advocacy group Demand Progress, expects many more Democratic lawmakers to join Mastodon.

Statistics:

  • Twitter has hundreds of millions of monthly active users.
  • Mastodon has recently crossed into the millions of users.
  • Democrats lost 4,000 followers and Republicans gained 8,000 followers in the first weeks of Elon Musk's leadership of Twitter.
  • Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) each gained more than 300,000 followers on Twitter.

Sources:

  • "A growing number of #Democrats are fleeing #Twitter and joining #Mastodon in protest of #ElonMusk's takeover of the platform," by Cristiano Lima (@critternewman), Aaron Schaffer (@AaronSchaffer42)
  • "Democrats are leaving #Twitter, but won't be moving to #Mastodon," by Leslie Berestein Roig (@LeslieBerestein), NBC News
  • " Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) Joins #Mastodon, citing #elonmusk's 'anti-democratic worldview', by Aaron Fritschner (@afs993)
  • "Lawmakers begin to flee #Twitter amid concerns over #free speech, #censorship, and # fake accounts, By Jeremy B. Merrill (@jeremymbmerrill), Liz Day (@lizday)
  • "Twitter's #free speech debate is heating up, but experts say it's not just about #Twitter, By Andrew L. Shipley (@AndrewLShipley)