Gary Lineker has said he has stopped posting his opinions on X/Twitter, blaming “odd bloke” Elon Musk for the decision.
Speaking to The Independent, the Match Of The Day presenter explained: “I have changed my habits on Twitter. I don’t really post my thoughts now because I think it has become not a very pleasurable experience.”
Lineker continued: “There was a time you could have little chats with people on there and a bit of banter but now it is impossible because before I could have chats with people I either followed or were blue-tick people but now everyone’s got a blue tick so that doesn’t work anymore.
“I have become a bit bored with it. It is a very unpleasant world there and Musk is clearly a very odd bloke.”
Last year, Lineker was suspended from Match Of The Day after he criticised the then-Conservative government’s proposed immigration policy in a post on X/Twitter. He had been accused of breaching the BBC‘s impartiality rules with the tweet.
The corporation subsequently conducted a review of its social media guidance for freelancers outside news and current affairs, and Lineker later returned as the presenter of MOTD.
In a statement at the time, he said: “After a surreal few days, I’m delighted that we have navigated a way through this. I want to thank you all for the incredible support, particularly my colleagues at BBC Sport, for the remarkable show of solidarity. Football is a team game but their backing was overwhelming.”
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Earlier this year, Lineker said he was using X less often as the site had become “increasingly toxic”. He again cited the changes Musk had made to the platform since he bought it for $44billion in 2022.
“For your mental health it’s probably quite important not to read too much of that,” Lineker explained (via BBC News). “You can’t have a nuanced conversation on there anymore so I’ve stepped away from that side of things.”
At the time, the host and former footballer said he didn’t think he was “constrained” on X/Twitter. “I think I’ve tweeted now like I’ve always done – i.e. sensibly,” he added.
“I know the [BBC] guidelines inside out, and the new guidelines actually allow you more freedom to tweet. We’re allowed opinions on stuff.”
Musk, who is the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has made numerous adaptations to X since taking over the platform – most notably changing its name from Twitter last summer.
Tech billionaire Musk made headlines when he removed all blue verification checkmarks – only issuing them to users that subscribed to the paid-for Twitter Blue (now called X Premium).
He later revamped the verification system by introducing new colour-coded categories for individuals, government accounts and companies.
Now, the blue checkmarks “appear on eligible profiles subscribed to the Premium or Premium+ tiers after a review to ensure subscribed accounts meet all eligibility criteria”, per X’s official website.
In October 2023, Musk stopped the app from displaying news story headlines, and later announced plans to hide the number of replies, retweets and likes on posts.
This April, he suggested that the social media platform would charge users a “small fee” to post in an attempt to “curb the relentless onslaught of bots”. He previously tested a $1 annual subscription to post and interact with other posts.
Musk said last month that he was moving X/Twitter out of California because of new laws brought in to protect trans students.