Labour MS plans to abandon Musk’s ‘poisonous and abusive’ X platform

Emily Price 

A senior Welsh Labour Senedd politician is planning to “abandon” Elon Musk’s social media platform X after branding it “poisonous and abusive”.

Former counsel general Mick Antoniw says he’s now looking forward to “constructive and sensible engagement” on Senedd issues on Bluesky instead.

The site was developed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey in 2019 but user numbers have surged in recent weeks following the election of Donald Trump in the United States.

Twitter was bought by Musk, in 2022 and renamed X, but both the platform and the billionaire businessman have faced scrutiny since the takeover, prompting several high-profile account-holders to leave.

Musk championed the Trump presidential bid and has been named co-head of the new administration’s department of government efficiency.

‘Abused’

Mr Antoniw, who is the Senedd Member for Pontypridd, says the platform has been “abused” and “politicised” by Musk.

The Welsh-Ukrainian politician has made regular visits to deliver aid to Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia in 2022.

He says he will still continue to use X to access information from organisations based in the war-torn country – but plans to transition away from the platform eventually.

‘Poisonous’

Mr Antoniw said: “I intend to increasingly use other socisl media sites to engage in. I tend to use twitter just to access information from organisations in Ukraine.

“But twitter has become increasingly poisonous and abusive. It is no longer an appropriate vehicle for expression of views and ideas.

“Since it was taken over by Elon Musk it has been abused. Information is manipulated and has clearly become politicised and a source for deliberate misinformation.

“I hope in the near future to completely abandon twitter. It is very sad and needs a new standard and code of conduct that is independently regulated if it is to have any chance of long term survival. In my view it is in terminal decline.”

Popular

Mr Antoniw joins Wales First Minister Eluned Morgan on Bluesky alongside fellow Labour MSs David Rees, Buffy Williams, Alun Davies, Dawn Bowden, Rebecca Evans, Jane Hutt, Leanne Neagle, Jeremy Miles, Sarah Murphy, Joyce Watson, Jack Sargeant and Jenny Rathbone.

Former deputy minister for transport Lee Waters also joined the site after deactivating his X account earlier this year following a torrent of abuse over the 20mph default speed limit.

Plaid Cymru’s leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has also joined the platform alongside Heledd Fychan, Mabon ap Gwynfor, Peredur Owen Griffiths, Llyr Gruffydd and Sioned Williams.

Block function

With over 23m users now signed up, Bluesky is proving to be a popular destination for those who no longer wish to be on X.

Part of its appeal is that it allows people to interact as much as they do on X, posting, replying, as well as messaging one another on a vertical user interface.

It also offers users the chance to more heavily moderate their experience compared to Musk’s platform which recently changed the block function to allow users to see the posts of public accounts who have blocked them.

In contrast, Bluesky has proudly boasted of its “anti-toxicity” features.

These include empowering users to detach an original post of theirs from someone else’s quote post, preventing unwanted interactions.

None of the Senedd’s Welsh Conservative MSs have signed up to the platform yet.

After the Guardian newspaper announced it would no longer be posting to X – the leader of the Senedd Tories, Andrew RT Davies in a post: “This platform is no longer an echo chamber and they don’t like it.”