The Guardian has announced that it will no longer post content to Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, from its official accounts.
In an announcement to readers, the news organization 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 be posting to any official Guardian editorial accounts on 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 that it had long been concerned about included far-right conspiracy theories and racism. He added that the site’s coverage of the US presidential election had crystallized his decision.
“This is something we have been considering for some time given the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism,” he said.
“The US presidential election campaign only served to underscore what we have long considered: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use his influence to shape political discourse.”
Anti-hate speech and EU campaign groups have criticized Musk, the world’s richest person, over content standards on the platform since he bought it for $44 billion in 2022. A self-declared “life absolutist” freedom of expression,” Tesla CEO has reinstated banned accounts, including those of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate, and British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
The Guardian said that X users would still be able to share their articles on the platform and that posts about X would occasionally be included in their work as part of their live news reports. Journalists could also continue to use the platform to gather news, The Guardian said.
Although The Guardian’s official accounts are being removed from X, there will be no restrictions on individual journalists using the site beyond the organisation’s existing social media guidelines.
“Social media can be an important tool for news organizations and help us reach new audiences, but at this point X plays a minor role in promoting our work. Our journalism is available and open to everyone on our website and we would prefer people to come to theguardian.com and support our work there,” said The Guardian.
In response to the announcement, Musk posted on X that The Guardian was “irrelevant” and a “laboriously vile propaganda machine.”
Last year, National Public Radio (NPR), the American nonprofit media organization, stopped publishing on X after the social media platform labeled it a “state-affiliated media outlet.” PBS, an American public television broadcaster, suspended its publications for the same reason.
This month, the Berlin film festival said it would abandon X, without citing an official reason, and last month North Wales police said it had stopped using X because it was “no longer consistent with our values.”
In August, the Royal National Orthopedic Hospital he said he was leaving xciting an “increased volume of hate speech and abusive comments” on the platform.