Disgruntled X users are again flocking to Bluesky, a newer social media platform that grew out of the former Twitter before billionaire Elon Musk took it over in 2022. While it remains small, it has emerged as an alternative for those looking for a different mood, lighter and friendlier and less influenced by Musk.

The company, which has experienced an uptick instability and bugs in recent months after Elon Musk cut its staff sharply, said “Some parts of Twitter may not be working as expected right now. We made an internal change that had some unintended consequences. We’re working on this now and will share an update when it’s fixed.”

Twitter banned all political advertising in 2019, reacting to growing concern about misinformation spreading on social media. The latest move appears to represent a break from that policy, which had banned ads by candidates, political parties, or elected or appointed government officials.

The company hasn’t explained to the journalists why it took down the accounts and made their profiles and past tweets disappear. But Musk took to Twitter on Thursday night to accuse journalists of sharing private information about his whereabouts that he described as “basically assassination coordinates.” He provided no evidence for that claim.

A wave of layoffs at tech giants like Facebook parent Meta, Amazon and Twitter — along with falling share prices — seems to signal a changed environment for big tech.

From the moment Elon Musk took the reins at social media platform Twitter, chaos has seemed to envelop the site. But even on Nov. 17, when the farewell tweets were flying and users feared the site would implode, Black Twitter was still Black Twittering.

Elon Musk even changed his profile to “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator” — with a photo of himself when he was a toddler holding a telephone. But it is almost impossible for those outside of Twitter to know what strings he is pulling or whose accounts have been suspended.

The sneaker giant became the latest company to cut ties with Chicago native Ye, who was suspended from Twitter and Instagram this month over antisemitic posts that the social networks said violated their policies.

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are generally staying the course from the 2020 voting season, which was marred by conspiracies and culminated in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Video app TikTok, which has soared in popularity since the last election cycle, announced Wednesday it is launching an election center.

While Musk hasn’t offered specifics about how he would run the platform, his musings are prompting celebrations from some of those muzzled by Twitter, even as they alarm internet safety experts who predict a rise in harassment, hate speech and misinformation about topics like vaccines and elections.

The outspoken Tesla CEO, who is also the world’s wealthiest person, has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it’s not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.

Twitter Inc. said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that Elon Musk, currently the company’s biggest individual shareholder, has proposed buying the remaining shares of Twitter that he doesn’t already own at $54.20 per share, an offer worth more than $43 billion.

President Donald Trump is no longer allowed to post on several social media platforms. We discuss the intersection of social media and free speech — and how high-profile bans like this could shape the future of sharing.

@realDonaldTrump, the Twitter feed that grew from the random musings of a reality TV star into the cudgel of an American president, has died. It was not quite 12 years old.

The social platform has been under growing pressure to take further action against President Trump following Wednesday’s deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

As the CEOs of Twitter and Facebook gave assurances of vigorous action against election disinformation, Republicans at a Senate hearing Tuesday pounded the social media companies over political bias, business practices and market dominance.