Dionne Warwick has called out “young man” Elon Musk following the changes he has made to Twitter (now known as X).
The American singer shared her thoughts on the ever-changing social media platform in a new interview with People, and shared her annoyance with the radical stream of changes being implemented by the new owner.
Now, it seems that not only is she not enthusiastic about the restructuring of the app since the Tesla CEO came to own the platform, but is wanting to meet with him directly to ask about his logic behind some of the changes.
“I have yet to speak to that young man and I intend to because I am not quite sure what he’s doing or if he knows what he’s doing,” she told the outlet when asked about her thoughts on Musk. “So until that happens, I’ll reserve my answer to that question.”
The decisions to change the app have included the removal of the verification stamp on accounts, which are now only issued to those willing to pay for a subscription, and the overhaul rebranding of the platform – changing both the name and logo from ‘Twitter’ to ‘X’.
Plans for one of the more concerning changes, however, were unveiled last month, when the business mogul announced that he was going to remove the “block” feature from X.
It makes no sense
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 18, 2023
Although there have been no specific reports on when the change is set to be put in motion, Musk did announce that the feature was “going to be deleted, except for DMs” – leaving users forced to use the mute button instead.
As reported by Deadline, the billionaire businessman said that “it makes no sense” to have both “mute” and “block”, but the Community Notes on X noted that the blocking function “is a basic safety feature that allows basic protection for victims of abuse and stalking.” The note added that removing the ability to block other users “would compromise the safety of many people on social media.”
This isn’t the first time that Warwick has criticised Musk for his extensive changes to X. Last December, the musician warned users of the platform about the repercussions of him acquiring Twitter, particularly revolving around his approach towards giving users “freedom of speech”.
“I know a lot of people have walked away from Twitter. That’s prior to knowing exactly what he’s going to do. He’s new to the game,” the artist told People at the time.
“His attitude is freedom of speech, which is mine as well. However, there’s a way to do it. That’s one of the conversations I’m going to have with him. What is your true intent? I understand your freedom of speech attitude but how are you going to contain it, so it does not get out of hand?”
Back in April, many other famous faces took to the platform to share their thoughts on him purchasing the platform for approximately $44billion (£34.5bn).
“It would be kinda dope if Musk bought Twitter and just shut it off…. Lol,” wrote Ice T, while Geoff Barrow was more critical, adding: “Hi Elon, you’re a twat. How’s about that for freedom of speech?”
Additionally, just last week, while attending the Valorant Champions tournament in Los Angeles, Musk was booed and told to “bring back Twitter” in chants from the crowd.