Council to stop using 'unsafe' social media site X

A council in Derbyshire has said it will stop posting on Elon Musk's social media platform X after leaders said they had been "horrified by the state of it".

A proposal for Erewash Borough Council to stop using X, formerly known as Twitter, was initially put forward by an opposition Green councillor and agreed to at a meeting of the full council after a vote.

Breaston councillor Ann Mills said the move "demonstrates leadership in safe, inclusive public communication" amid concerns over the platform's AI tool Grok in particular.

It is the first council in the region to formally announce its intention to stop using the platform over safety concerns.

It is thought that Erewash will stop using the platform from the spring.

The text of the motion put forward to councillors criticised "Recent developments on Twitter/X".

It noted "weak moderation, proliferation of abuse, and the introduction of AI-generated deepfake image creation, including having made the platform a space where women, children, and marginalised groups are particularly at increased risk".

It added: "Continued reliance on the platform for official communications may disproportionately impact protected groups and create barriers to engagement."

X recently announced it will block Grok from undressing images of real people in jurisdictions where it is illegal.

The council's Labour leader James Dawson said recent controversies over the platform's AI tool Grok, whose generation of deepfake images sparked intervention from the government, had "really focused minds".

"We know there has been significant issues with X...certainly recently. There has been growing concern over the use of it," he told the BBC.

"If it isn't a safe platform, is that something that as a public authority we should be encouraging?"

Dawson also said recent analysis showed that use of the platform locally had dropped off.

"We need to be communicating with residents on platforms that they are accessing and the data that we've got currently shows they don't use X," he said.

The council's X account has roughly 5,500 followers.

According to Dawson, Erewash's online news letter has about 18,000 subscribers, and their Facebook posts regularly average at about 29,000 views.

The Labour deputy leader of the council Becca Everett said she was "horrified by the state of [X]".

"I'd like to be clear to those that side with free speech … this is about removing Erewash Borough Council from it, to ensure that women and children who appear on our social media are [protected]," she said.

"No longer using X is an active step in protecting women and children."

The proposal was supported by the leader of the Conservative opposition, Wayne Major.

"I do believe that X has crossed the line," he told the meeting.

"We should have the ability as an organisation to say, we think you've crossed the line.

"Not because we want to ban things but actually it's part of sending a message that there is a line."

Reform UK councillors did not support the proposal.

South Derbyshire District Council removed itself from the platform in March last year, stating at the time that X "does not align with the council's values".

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