Martina Navratilova lashes out at Elon Musk over recurring glitch in his social media site

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova expressed her growing frustration with the current state of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) under Elon Musk's ownership. Navratilova highlighted a recurring issue where her direct messages from followers intermittently disappear, a problem that has now become frequent.

On December 11, 2024, Navratilova voiced her exasperation in a post on X. She wrote:

"It’s unreal how Musk effed up this platform. E.G.- My direct messages from people who follow me would intermittently disappear and I had to start over. Now- it’s a daily, sometimes twice daily occurrence. Wtaf? There is no reason that should happen unless they want it to happen."

Navratilova's criticism is part of a broader wave of discontent that has swept across X since Elon Musk's controversial takeover. The story began in April 2022, when Musk, already holding a significant 9.1% share of Twitter, offered to buy the company outright. Initially, the board resisted, employing a "poison pill" defense to thwart Musk's advances.

However, after much back-and-forth, they eventually acquiesced to Musk's $44 billion buyout proposal, envisioning a transformation into Musk's dream of X, an "everything app" integrating multiple online services.

The transition was anything but smooth. After Musk assumed control in October 2022, he implemented dramatic changes, including mass layoffs and policy overhauls. These moves were intended to streamline operations and align the platform with his vision of promoting free speech and transparency. However, the actual execution often led to confusion and dissatisfaction among users.

---

Martina Navratilova claims Elon Musk manipulated the 2024 US Presidential elections

Martina Navratilova during the 2024 Laureus World Sports Awards press conference (Image source: Getty)

Martina Navratilova accused Elon Musk of "rigging" the 2024 US Presidential elections.

Since Musk acquired the social media platform, his management has been controversial, with claims that it promotes right-wing political content and allows unchecked hate speech. Recently, author and Republican Party critic Craig Unger suggested his profile was shadow-banned, citing a drop in views.

"Shadow-banning anyone? It's interesting how I have--or used have-over 50K followers- and when I did a good tweet I could get 750K page views, but now I get only 520 page views when I retweet. What's Elon afraid of?" Unger wrote.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion accused Musk of using his influence to suppress posts critical of the Republican party during the elections.

"Elon has rigged the system in a big way. Buying twitter was his best investment ever," Martina Navratilova wrote.

Elon Musk was pivotal in Donald Trump's re-election as President in the 2024 presidential election. The billionaire not only invested millions into Trump's campaign but also attended numerous rallies in person.