More than 80 French NGOs and organisations have said they will stop using the social media platform X – formerly Twitter – as of 20 January, the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration. They consider the site's owner Elon Musk, a close Trump ally, a "danger" to freedom of expression and democratic values.
Eighty-seven groups advocating for human rights, press freedom and the environment expressed their concerns over the running of the platform in an open letter published by French newspaper Le Monde on 14 January.
The signatories include La Ligue des droits de l'Homme (the Human Rights League), France Terre d'asile, a non-profit organisation that supports asylum seekers, the charity Emmaüs France and Greenpeace.
"By leaving X, we are well aware of depriving ourselves of a communication channel to promote our actions, our struggles... to challenge, to raise awareness," they wrote.
"But this tool, which was a new space for freedom of expression in its beginnings, has become a serious danger to it and to the respect and dignity of people."
Absence of moderation
The signatories are critical of X's "absence of moderation and the configuration of algorithms" which "promote the proliferation of hateful content and the circulation of conspiracy and climate-sceptic theories".
The organisations, while inviting other advocacy groups to "leave X [in as great a number] as possible" said they would continue to communicate via other social networks, mentioning Bluesky and Mastodon.
EU concerned by high disinformation rate on Musk's X platform
Musk – the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX as well as the majority owner of X – openly shares Trump's hard-right politics and has poured millions of dollars into his presidential campaign.
Trump has tapped Musk to co-lead an advisory commission aiming to slash federal spending and bureaucracy, which he has dubbed the "Department of Government Efficiency".
'Anti-democratic excesses'
Calls to boycott the X platform have been multiplying in France for several weeks, including from trade unions, public hospital networks in Paris, the Caen war memorial and media outlets including Ouest France and Mediapart.
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany's defence ministry announced last Wednesday that it was suspending its activities on X, which it accuses of enabling the spread of disinformation.
The ministry said it "will no longer post proactively on the channel for the foreseeable future", adding that "the fact-based exchange of arguments is becoming increasingly difficult" on the platform.
Last week, more than 60 German universities also said they were turning their backs on the site, expressing concern about its "anti-democratic excesses".
'Ouest-France' becomes first French newspaper to stop posting on X
"[Its] current direction is not compatible with the basic values of the institutions concerned – openness to the world, scientific integrity, transparency and democratic discourse", the German group said. A similar move was made in by universities in Austria.
Faced with accusations of spreading false information and not allocating sufficient resources to moderate exchanges on the platform, Musk continues to defend a radical vision of freedom of expression and rejects all forms of what he calls censorship.
Far-right support
He has notably stirred controversy by insulting German leaders and urging people to vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in next month's snap general election, a move which has been condemned across the political spectrum.
Last week X livestreamed a conversation between Musk and AfD leader Alice Weidel and two days later Musk shared a stream of the party's congress on his own X feed.
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There have been numerous controversies since Musk bought the social network in 2022, leading to various legal actions on the part of investors, former employees and companies that had contracts with X.
Several French press outlets recently filed a legal complaint targeting Musk for not paying to use their news content on the platform, as required under specific European laws.
(with AFP)
