Elon Musk supports deleting Instagram

Elon Musk attracted attention when he commented on a tech startup CEO’s post about his decision to delete his Instagram account.

“Today I deleted Instagram, not just the app but the entire account. Time to be a man,” the CEO with the account name Spor wrote on X this week.

Musk then reshared the post and commented: “Right on.”

Billionaire Elon Musk in the Oval Office at the White House on May 30. Photo: AFP

Spor and Musk ‘s post has now been viewed 35 million times, but has drawn mixed reactions. Some agreed and criticized Instagram’s features. Others reminded the world’s richest billionaire that his social network X also has problems.

“X is much more negative,” one user commented.

This is not the first time the X boss has advocated deleting Instagram. Musk has repeatedly criticized Meta’s platform for creating superficial interactions and invading users’ privacy, encouraging people to stop using this photo-based social network.

In August 2024, when Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov was arrested in France, Musk suggested that Mark Zuckerberg , CEO of Meta, be arrested for accusing Instagram of censoring free speech, exploiting children, and allowing the government to access user data through a “backdoor.” He also agreed when a user compared Instagram to the adult website OnlyFans in 2023.

Last month, Aravind Srinivas, CEO of AI chatbot platform Perplexity , also spoke out about social media habits, advising young people to give up constant scrolling and start improving their skills using AI tools.

In the face of a wave of layoffs in the tech industry due to the application of AI automation to operate, Srinivas said: “People who are really at the forefront of using AI systems will be much more employable.” He warned that those who do not adapt to AI technology will be left behind in the job market.