A number of social media customers’ issues with following Vice President Kamala Harris’ marketing campaign account on X, previously Twitter, sparked questions directed on the platform’s proprietor, Elon Musk.
President Joe Biden introduced on Sunday in an announcement posted on social media that he wouldn’t be in search of reelection within the 2024 presidential race, following weeks of strain from inside his personal social gathering and from key Democratic donors to step down amid issues over his age and psychological acuity.
In a follow-up put up, Biden endorsed Harris to succeed him because the nominee, writing: “My very first determination because the social gathering nominee in 2020 was to choose Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it has been one of the best determination I’ve made. As we speak I wish to supply my full assist and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our social gathering this yr. Democrats—it is time to come collectively and beat Trump. Let’s do that.”
Hours later, Harris mentioned in an announcement of her personal that she was “honored to have the President’s endorsement.” She continued: “My intention is to earn and win this nomination. Over the previous yr, I’ve traveled throughout the nation, speaking with Individuals in regards to the clear selection on this momentous election. And that’s what I’ll proceed to do within the days and weeks forward.”
“I’ll do all the pieces in my energy to unite the Democratic Social gathering—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his excessive Mission 2025 agenda. Now we have 107 days till Election Day. Collectively, we’ll struggle. And collectively, we’ll win,” she concluded.
Nevertheless, a lot of X customers took to the platform to complain that they have been unable to comply with the @KamalaHQ account, which has been described as “the official fast response web page of Vice President Harris’ presidential marketing campaign.”
The View co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served as a Trump aide, however has since turned towards the previous president, was amongst these to share that she was having points with following the account.
Sharing a screenshot of a notification she had acquired from the platform, Griffin wrote: “Tried to comply with the @KamalaHQ account & X gave me the beneath message & blocked me from following: Weird. I comply with below 1,000 folks.”
“Listening to from a bunch of other people that is occurring to. What’s up, @X?” Griffin mentioned in a follow-up put up, earlier than sharing an replace stating that “after my posts, I now can comply with the account I used to be beforehand instructed I couldn’t comply with. Weird.”
Sharing an identical screenshot, one other X person wrote: “To not go full E**n M**ok conspiracy however I can comply with any account besides @kamalahq.”
There was no proof of any interference by Musk, and Newsweek has contacted representatives of X through e-mail for remark.
Posting a display recording, one other mentioned that they have been “being prevented from following @KamalaHQ. Says I can not comply with anymore however then I can comply with different accounts. Is that this typical Twitter incompetence or intentional sabotage by Elon Musk?”
“The best way the person who runs this website is actively stopping folks from a) discovering and b) following @kamalahq is wild,” learn one other touch upon the problem.
Journalist David Leavitt additionally shared that he had the identical concern, commenting: “Twitter is stopping customers from following the Kamala Harris @KamalaHQ account. It is nearly as if @elonmusk is participating in election interference… Sarcastically, it is the highest information story by the twitter AI Grok within the ‘for you’ tab.”
Leavitt shared a screenshot of the abstract by Grok, a product of Musk’s synthetic intelligence firm xAI, that had the headline: “X Customers Blocked from Following Kamala Harris.”
“A number of customers on X reported encountering an error message when making an attempt to comply with the official account of Vice President Kamala harris’ presidential marketing campaign, @KamalaHQ.,” learn the Grok merchandise.
“Customers famous that they have been capable of comply with different accounts with out concern, suggesting a particular restriction on following @KamalaHQ. Some customers speculated that this limitation is perhaps deliberately imposed by Elon Musk, the proprietor of X, probably because of the fast inflow of latest followers to the account.”
Musk, who interacted with a lot of X posts mocking and criticizing Harris whereas expressing assist for Trump on Sunday, didn’t seem to handle the problem, which many X customers shared had been subsequently resolved.
He did, nonetheless, share that the @BidenHQ X account had been taken down, following the president’s announcement that he was quitting his reelection efforts. The billionaire businessman, who acquired X in 2022, wrote, “Certain did,” alongside a screenshot that confirmed the account might now not be discovered.
Musk additionally shared that there had been different points on X, the place a lot of “good accounts have been sadly caught in a reply spam internet.” As of press time, that individual concern appeared to have been resolved.
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Newsweek is dedicated to difficult typical knowledge and discovering connections within the seek for frequent floor.
Newsweek is dedicated to difficult typical knowledge and discovering connections within the seek for frequent floor.