News media quit X over 'disinformation'

Sweden's left-liberal DN becomes third major media outlet to stop publishing articles on social media platform

PARIS:

News outlets have begun quitting X, formerly Twitter, once a favourite of global media but now accused of enabling the spread of disinformation under its owner, president-elect Donald Trump ally Elon Musk.

Citing a "harsh and extreme" climate, Sweden's newspaper of reference, the left-liberal Dagens Nyheter (DN), on Friday became third major media outlet to stop publishing its articles on the social media platform.

"Since Elon Musk took over, the platform has increasingly merged with his and Donald Trump's political ambitions," said editor-in-chief Peter Wolodarski.

Already on Wednesday, Britain's centre-left daily The Guardian had announced it would no longer post content from its official accounts on X, which it called "toxic".

A day later, Spain's Vanguardia did the same, saying it would rather lose subscribers than remain on a "disinformation network".

Several users had already wondered back in 2022 whether they should remain on Twitter when Musk -- a businessman best known for running car company Tesla and space company SpaceX -- bought the platform and drastically reduced content moderation in the name of free speech.

The question has flared up again since Trump won this month's presidential election, actively supported by Musk.

"I would expect more publishers to part ways with X," said Stephen Barnard, a specialist on media manipulation at Butler University in the US.

"How many do so will likely depend on what actions X, Musk, and the Trump administration take with regard to media and journalism," he said.

Musk, who is the world's richest man, has been tapped by Trump's team to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency.

The Guardian has nearly 11 million followers on the platform, but it said "the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives".