Online Political Earthquake: Three German Parties Leave 'X'
They accused the network of increasingly spreading far-right propaganda and disinformation.
TL;DR
- The Social Democratic Party (SPD), Greens, and Left Party in Germany have deactivated their accounts on the social network X.
- The parties cited a significant increase in far-right content and disinformation on the platform.
- They stated that X has become dominated by right-wing bots and promotes hatred and disinformation.
- The decision is a coordinated, supra-party action, with accounts to be deactivated, not deleted.
- The parties will continue to exchange views on other social media platforms.
- The initiative for the boycott reportedly came from Pegah Edalatiyan, political director of the Greens.
- Members and supporters have been recommended to boycott X and potentially move to services like Bluesky.
- Some leading politicians may privately remain on X.
- The German Federal Commissioner for Combating Discrimination, Fereshta Ludin, has urged the government to shut down X accounts, calling it a tool for political influence by its owner.
- The SPD holds 120 seats, the Greens 85, and the Left Party 65 seats in the German Bundestag.