If publicly following someone is a “vote” and has a bearing on my social graph, I have to evaluate the content that this someone consumes and act accordingly. Of course we can have differing opinions on some issues, and that is fine, but some opinions for some people cannot have any mediation because they are deemed personally unacceptable. In this case unfollow is inevitable.

As already mentioned, there are lists (including private ones) to stay updated on any topic in a neutral way, that is untethered from repercussions on the social graph.

Obviously these are new dynamics, nothing is “right” by definition, but the one mentioned seems to me a good breakdown.

At the UI/UX level it could simply be handled with two different actions, e.g., “Follow” and “Add to my read feed.”

You would not "follow" Taylor Swift but you would keep her on your reading list (named "garden snails").