The Guardian quits Elon Musk’s X social media platform
The Guardian has quit the social media platform X.
The news organisation announced its decision on Wednesday to stop posting from official editorial accounts on the platform, formerly known as Twitter.
“We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere,” the outlet said in a statement.
It comes as X owner Elon Musk has been confirmed as the co-lead of a new department of government efficiency in the incoming Donald Trump administration.
The Guardian said that it had been considering the decision for a while, citing “the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism.”
The media organisation, which has more than 80 accounts on X with approximately 27 million followers, has now updated its main accounts to say they have been “archived”.
Sky News reported earlier this year on far-right misinformation on X in the aftermath of the Southport stabbings.
The Guardian said the recent US election underlined the issue, claiming it further proved that Mr Musk was using the site to shape political discourse.
Reporters for the site will still be able to use the platform, with one of The Guardian’s most prominent journalists, political editor Pippa Crerar, saying she was “staying put – for now”.
In response, Mr Musk said: “They are a laboriously vile propaganda machine”.
Musk rocket-boosted Trump – but will it all end with a bang?
Elon Musk, X and Donald Trump
The Tesla and SpaceX businessman officially took over Twitter in April 2022 and grew into an increasingly prominent position within the Trump campaign during the election.
As well as turning out on the election trail to support Mr Trump, he donated tens of millions of dollars and held $1m (£784,000) giveaways in key battleground states.
Sky News science and technology editor Tom Clarke said that during the election, Mr Musk “bombarded” his millions of followers with pro-Trump content.
In a polling day podcast, Mr Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, said: “I don’t think this race would even be close if it wasn’t for what Elon Musk was doing with X and showing people what is going on.”
Mr Musk’s new role appears to be an advisory one as the statement released by Mr Trump said he and Vivek Ramaswamy would “provide advice and guidance from outside of government and partner with the White House … to drive large scale structural reform”.
Sky News’ US partner NBC News previously reported that Mr Musk wanted to cut $2trn (£1.57trn) from the federal budget – which is more than the allocated budget of $1.7trn (£1.33trn).
While he has provided sparse details about what he would like to cut, he has publicly attacked relatively small recipients of federal money, such as the Education Department and NPR, the US outlet added.
