Scores of universities and research institutions in and on Friday announced their intention to drop their presence on the online messaging platform , saying its algorithms were opposed to a discourse based on scientific and democratic integrity.
The planned withdrawal in the academic sphere comes as the German government says it is also considering leaving the platform because it was having an “agitated and polarizing” effect on public political discussion.
On Thursday, the trade unions GEW, which represents educators and teachers, and Verdi announced they were deleting their X presence, as did the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).
X ‘incompatible’ with fundamental values
In a statement, the institutions, which include some of Germany’s most prestigious universities, said that X was steering a course that went against their principles.
“The withdrawal is a consequence of the incompatability of the platform’s current orientation with the fundamental values of the institutions involved: open-mindedness, scientific integrity, transparency and democratic discourse,” a joint statement said.
It said the way X’s algorithm reinforced the propagation of right-wing populist content while restricting other views made any further use of the platform by the signees “untenable.”
Berlin mulling a departure
The German government, in its turn, said on Friday that X and other social media platforms used algorithms that do not foster “a calm, objective and balanced discourse, but rather one that tends to be agitated and polarizing.”
A spokeswoman said the government was holding an ongoing discussion on whether to leave the platform but had decided to remain for the time being in view of the wide audience that could be reached via its services.
She denied that the government’s concerns about X were linked to owner ‘s involvement in German politics.
Musk has given via his platform, something that has
Loudspeaker for Musk
The comments come a day after Musk held the leader of the AfD.
Musk has used X to call on German voters to choose the AfD at upcoming elections and to , including Chancellor and President .
He has also taken particular interest in the Labour government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the UK of late, repeatedly calling on him to resign.
Critics also say the platform is failing to remove disinformation and hate speech.
The is currently examining whether Musk, a supporter of US President-elect , is adhering to the rules for social media networks that are in force in Europe.
tj/msh (dpa, AFP)
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