A UK government minister told how she scaled back her use of the social media platform X, claiming it had become “a bit despotic” and was “a place of misery now”.
Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, spoke out in the wake of a spat between UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the platform’s boss, Elon Musk.
The social media tycoon called the PM “two-tier Keir”, as he posted a series of images, videos and memes related to recent rioting in the UK, with Mr Musk suggesting that not all communities are “protected in Britain”.
Downing Street had already criticised Mr Musk for tweeting that “civil war is inevitable” in the UK, with Sir Keir’s official spokesman insisting there was “no justification for comments like that”.
Sure seems like unequal justice in the UK https://t.co/4obUDDE7S1
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 10, 2024
Ms Phillips said although she had previously been “massively addicted to Twitter”, referencing the former name of X, she had removed the app from her phone after Mr Musk took over the company.
Speaking at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the government minister said of the social media platform: “Fundamentally for me now I think that I am sort of done with it, I don’t wish to fish in that particular pond any more.”
She told the audience: “I used to be massively addicted to Twitter, I have got a very addictive personality, I was massively addicted to it.”
But she added: “The only power we now have over what is becoming a bit despotic is that we opt out of it, you vote with your feet in this instance rather than pen and paper.”
I don’t think that it is a place of light, I think it is only a place of misery now
Asked by host Matthew Stadlen if she would encourage people to quit the site, she said that would be “too dramatic”.
But Ms Phillips said: “Personally for me, I don’t think it is a space where there is any fun to be had any more.
“I don’t think that it is a place of light, I think it is only a place of misery now.”
She added that she did not want to “strop off” and leave the site, but said: “I’m just not going to use it very much.”
Speaking about Mr Musk she told the audience: “As soon as he took it over I took the app off my phone, so I have to log in to Twitter.
“So already there is a barrier.”
The comments follow Ms Phillips sharing her concerns about the impact of social media companies more generally.
The Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley said while Mr Musk had “every right” to express his views on British politics as a private citizen, “as a commercial citizen, who literally can control the way we see different things, you are getting into a more dangerous area”.
She added: “I have for a long time felt quite anxious that there are a number of big companies in the world, most of them tech-based, whether it’s Twitter, Meta, Amazon as well, where all the films we watch on TV are from these companies.
“Like literally what we decide we are going to watch comes from them. When I am lying in bed, the next book I am going to read is designed by one of these men.
“What has worried me is the idea of how much power and money these big companies have without any democratic institution to hold them to account. I have thought for a long time their power would massively outstrip that of democratic governments around the world.
“And I suppose we are now at the point of seeing whether it actually hits the road and that actually is coming to pass.”
X has been contacted for comment.
