The Guardian, one of the UK’s leading news organizations, announced that it stopped sharing content from its official accounts on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, owned by Elon Musk. In a statement to its readers, The Guardian stated that most of the content they encountered on the platform was “disturbing” and that they made this decision.
The Guardian had more than 80 accounts on the X platform with approximately 27 million followers. However, the organization stated that issues such as far-right conspiracy theories and racism on the platform have long been a concern. In particular, posts about the US presidential elections finalized The Guardian’s decision to withdraw from X.
In its statement, The Guardian emphasized its concerns about the X platform’s content policies and Musk’s influence on the site: “We have been considering this decision for a while. Disturbing content frequently encountered on the platform includes far-right conspiracy theories and racism. The US presidential election campaign has further reinforced our views on this issue: We believe that X has become a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.”
Anti-hate speech groups and the European Union have criticized X for deficiencies in content standards since 2022, when Musk purchased the platform. Describing himself as “an absolute defender of freedom of expression,” Musk reintroduced previously banned accounts such as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, misogynist Andrew Tate and far-right activist Tommy Robinson to the platform.
The Guardian announced that although they will not completely abandon the X platform, they will stop sharing from their official accounts. But users will still be able to share The Guardian’s articles, and in some cases the organization will be able to embed X posts in its news for live news tracking. It was also reported that reporters can continue to use the platform for news gathering purposes.
Although The Guardian’s official accounts have been withdrawn from X, no restrictions have been placed on individual journalists using the site. They are expected to use the platform only in line with the organization’s existing social media policies.
The Guardian’s statement included the following statements: “Social media is an important tool for news organizations and can be effective in reaching new audiences. However, at this point, the importance of the X platform in terms of promoting our work has decreased. Our journalism is publicly accessible on our website. “We invite our readers to support our work by coming directly to theguardian.com.”
The Guardian isn’t the only organization deciding to abandon X
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The Guardian’s withdrawal from X is not the only example of a reaction to problems on the platform. Last year, US-based non-profit media organization NPR announced that it was leaving the platform after being labeled “state-affiliated media” by X. US public broadcaster PBS also decided to stop its posts on the X platform for the same reason.
This month, the Berlin Film Festival also announced that it was leaving the X platform without giving an official reason. Last month, the North Wales police force stopped using X, explaining that the platform did not align with its values. In August, the Royal National Orthopedic Hospital announced that it had decided to leave X due to increasing hate speech and offensive comments on the platform.