I would argue it's not that much of a secret if they're on Twitter but it'l be more difficult (not as hard as if it were encrypted, unless it *is encrypted but I wouldn't know if it was) for law enforcement and advocates to know specifically what people are following. Twitter however essentially allows that content and governments and advocates had been vocal about that fact so the fact people are following certain accounts such as what you named isn't secret, it's just.. which ones are they following?
My theory is that it gives Elmo a way to promote authoritarian and anti-LGBT tweets without making it obvious that the algorithm is politically based to align with the platform owner's views.
I'm excited for them to fuck it up and leave them vulnerable and I expect to see some very telling like changes over the couple days after they roll this out