Playbill leaves Twitter, saying the site ‘expanded tolerance for hate’

(CNN) — Playbill, a news outlet and guide for the Broadway theater community and theatergoers, said Friday it left Twitter after Elon Musk took over the platform.

In a statement, Playbill said the social media platform has “greatly expanded its tolerance for hate, negativity, and misinformation.” The account, which had more than 400,000 followers, was not active on Twitter as of Friday.

The company that owns Playbill was established in 1885. It is family-owned.

“We feel we can no longer continue to utilize a platform where the line between actual news and insidious rhetoric has become blurred beyond recognition,” Playbill said in a statement.

Hours after Twitter launched its short-lived paid verification system Wednesday, the site faced a barrage of celebrity and company impersonators. The platform suspended numerous fake accounts that had “verified” check marks for brands ranging from Nintendo of America to the software company Valve.

Some of the fake company accounts on Twitter included inappropriate logos or pictures — the imposter Nintendo account, for example, tweeted an image of Mario giving the middle finger.

The following Playbill Twitter accounts are no longer active: @Playbill, @PlaybillTravel, @PLAYBILLder, @PlaybillArts, @PlaybillStore. The company said it would maintain its social media presence on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

The company added that that any tweet from a Twitter account that contains the Playbill name is fake.

— CNN’s Brian Fung contributed to this report.