A huge news outlet has announced they will no longer be posting on Elon Musk's X.
The Twitterverse is crumbling around us, and with Elon Musk continuing to rule the roost over at X, there’s a mass exodus to Bluesky as the Twitter clone many need right now. Ever since Musk took control of Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, there's been a timeline of trouble. From changing its name to X and launching a mass firing of staff/walkouts, he’s also rolled back the block feature and inadvertently slashed the social media platform's share price. X is expected to lose another 5.1% of its users by the end of 2024, and while it'll still boast 335.7 million people on the platform, that's a worrying drop of 32.7 million users in just two years.
That figure could be a conservative one, because now, one of the world's best-known news outlets is shutting up shop on X and waving goodbye.
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In a lengthy piece, The Guardian has explained why it's stopping posting on X, leaving behind some 10.5 million followers. While it's a far cry from the 41 million who follow the BBC World News account, it's still a major blow to those who got their news through the account.
Not pulling any punches, The Guardian has put Musk himself in the crosshairs and referred to the 'toxic' environment he's created. This comes in the wake of the American election, which The Guardian suggests was the last straw.
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Elon Musk has been particularly vocal in his support for Donald Trump, and it looks like it's paid off as he's set to be appointed to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy. Considering Dogecoin is Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, it's all a little convenient for some.
The Guardian says that the 'benefits' of being on X are 'outweighed' by the negatives, with it looking to promote its journalism elsewhere. The Guardian and sister publication Observer have over 20 million followers across 40 active X accounts, but a look at The Guardian's main X page has a bio that now reads: "This account has been archived."
Journalists who write for these publications are told they're allowed to stay on X with their own personal profiles.
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As for what pushed The Guardian off X, the outlet expanded: "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 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."
Musk famously reinstated Trump's Twitter/X account in November 2022 after he was 'permenantly' banned in January 2021. Since then, there have been accusations of political bias across the platform, as well as complaints that numerous posts are deemed 'safe' despite being reported for everything from hate speech to violent threats.
2023 saw other major news organizations including NPR and PBS call it a day on X, while there's been a slew of users saying they're heading to Bluesky in a post-election world. The question is, who's next to abandon ship.