Friday, November 15, 2024 - The Guardian has announced it will no longer post content on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, from its official accounts.
In an announcement to readers on Wednesday, November 13, the
news organisation said it considered the benefits of being on the platform
formerly called Twitter were now outweighed by the negatives, citing the “often
disturbing content” found on it.
“We wanted to let readers
know that we will no longer post on any official Guardian editorial accounts on
the social media site X,” the Guardian said.
The Guardian has more than 80 accounts on X with
approximately 27 million followers.
The Guardian said content on the platform included far-right
conspiracy theories and racism. It added that the site’s coverage of the US
presidential election had crystallised its decision.
“This is something we have
been considering for a while given the often disturbing content promoted or
found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism,” it
said.
“The US presidential election
campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that
X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use
its influence to shape political discourse.”
Anti-hate speech campaign groups and the EU have criticised
Musk, the world’s richest person, over content standards on the platform since
he bought it for $44bn in 2022.
A self-declared “free speech absolutist”, the Tesla chief
executive has reinstated banned accounts including those of the conspiracy
theorist Alex Jones, the misogynist influencer Andrew Tate and the British
far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
The Guardian said X users would still be able to share its
articles across the platform and that posts on X would occasionally be embedded
in its work as part of its live news reporting. Reporters would also be able to
continue using the platform for newsgathering purposes, the Guardian said.
Although the Guardian’s official accounts are withdrawing
from X, there will be no restrictions on individual reporters using the site
beyond the organisation’s existing social media guidelines.
“Social media can be an
important tool for news organisations and help us to reach new audiences but at
this point X now plays a diminished role in promoting our work. Our journalism
is available and open to all on our website and we would prefer people to come
to theguardian.com and support our work there,” the Guardian said.
Responding to the announcement, Musk posted on X that the
Guardian was “irrelevant” and a “laboriously vile propaganda machine”.
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