U.K. publication The Guardian will no longer post on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter that has been taken over by Elon Musk.
The Guardian made the announcement on Wednesday in a post on its website, writing that “the benefits of being on the platform formerly called Twitter” have now been “outweighed by the negatives.” The publication cited the “often disturbing content” found on the platform and said the way it handled last week’s U.S. presidential election — which saw Donald Trump win a second term — “crystallized” 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,” the publication said. “The U.S. 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.”
Elon Musk reacted in a response to James Esses’ X post about the news, writing: “They are a laboriously vile propaganda machine.”
On Tuesday, it was announced that Trump had tapped Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican primary candidate, to provide advice to the administration as the “Department of Government Efficiency,” aka DOGE (a nod to the Dogecoin cryptocurrency).
“Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal Agencies,” Trump said in a statement. “It will become, potentially, ‘The Manhattan Project’ of our time.”
Representatives for X did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
The Guardian added that X users will still be able to share its articles on the platform and that it may still embed posts on X into its stories. The Guardian reporters are also still able to use X as a newsgathering resource and do not have any restrictions on having profiles on the site themselves.
“Social media can be an important tool for news organizations and help us to reach new audiences but, at this point, X now plays a diminished role in promoting our work,” The Guardian concluded. “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.”
NPR and PBS also stopped posting on X shortly after Musk’s takeover, saying that the platform is now “state-affiliated media.”
Earlier this month, the Berlin Film Festival also announced that it would no longer post on X after Dec. 31, 2024, though a specific reason was not given.
From Variety US