Elon Musk stopped tweeting for over 48 hours — all it took was a visit to China, where Twitter is banned
Elon Musk in Beijing.
REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
Elon Musk stopped tweeting from May 29 to early June 1, putting an end to his daily posting streak.
Having gone three days without tweeting, it was his longest hiatus since last June, Bloomberg reported.
Twitter is banned in China, where Musk has met with top government officials and had a 16-course feast, per Reuters.
Elon Musk’s trip to China marks the first time this year that he hasn’t tweeted, Bloomberg reported.
The Twitter boss posted on his platform every day of 2023 until May 29, averaging 36 daily posts over the past two weeks, per Social Blade.
Across one weekend last month, he sent out over 100 tweets.
And it looks like only the Great Firewall of China has slowed that down, because Twitter is banned in the country.
The world’s richest person — who reclaimed that title on Wednesday — went almost three days without tweeting. As of very early Thursday morning Eastern time, he had started tweeting again.
That means Musk’s break from tweeting was his longest hiatus from the platform since June last year, Bloomberg reported.
It comes after incoming Twitter CEO, Linda Yaccarino, tried to convince him to stop tweeting after 3 a.m. — a habit which Musk himself has admitted he should stop.
While Twitter is banned in China, people often get around this by using virtual private networks or VPNs.
But Musk may have little reason to do that because he received a five-star welcome for his first trip to the country in three years.
According to Reuters, he met with China’s sixth highest-ranked leader, Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang — believed to be the first time he’s met one-on-one with a foreign CEO.
The news agency previously reported he met with three other government ministers and enjoyed a lavish 16-course feast.
An apparent picture of the menu posted to Weibo shows a customized Tesla design, Insider reported. Musk’s private jet departed Shanghai just after 11 p.m. ET on Wednesday, flight data shows.
Insider contacted Twitter for comment. The company responded with an automated message that didn’t address the inquiry.
