Welsh council backs away from X

Ted Peskett Local Democracy Reporter

A Welsh council has taken the decision to stop using the social media platform X with its leader saying the move is “about values”.

In a statement about distancing themselves from X, formerly Twitter, Vale of Glamorgan Council also said the decision was made in light of a significant decline in engagement.

The local authority is one of the latest public bodies to announce that it will stop using the social media platform. North Wales Police is another Welsh body that has already done so.

Leader of Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cllr Lis Burnett, said: “This is a decision about values.

“Over the last two years the X platform has become synonymous with abuse, misinformation, and extreme views.”

Criticism

One Conservative councillor at Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cllr Rhys Thomas, has criticised the move, accusing the council of trying to avoid scrutiny and adding that many Vale residents use X as a source of information.

The social media platform was taken over in October 2022 by businessman, Elon Musk, who is also known for his leadership of the companies Tesla and SpaceX.

A number of other councils across the UK have also decided to stop using X over the past year, citing as a reason that they no longer believed it alligned with their values.

When North Wales Police announced that it would quit the platform in 2024, it also said that the site was no longer consistent with its values.

Cllr Burnett added: “We have set out our ambition of making the Vale a County of Sanctuary.

“One that is not only welcoming but that actively challenges discrimination and negative perceptions.

“As a Council we strongly believe that ensuring equality of opportunity is something that we should seek to provide for all citizens.

“With these ambitions in mind X no longer feels like a space where we should be interacting with our residents.

“I recognise that many people still use the platform but it is simply not the right place to ask our community to engage with us.

“This is also a decision about making the best use of our resources.

“Recent changes to X have made it harder to engage with local people about our work.

“We will continue to engage with residents on other social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.”

“Odd”

Cllr Rhys Thomas called the council’s decision “odd” and “yet another example of the Labour-run Council trying to avoid scrutiny”.

He added: “Many Vale residents use X as a source of information, and it’s vital that the Council has active accounts on social media platforms like X.

“Instead of indulging in their usual virtue-signalling, the Council should take responsibility and focus on what matters to people across the Vale of Glamorgan.”

In its statement, Vale of Glamorgan Council said there has been a significant decline in engagement with its account on X in the last two years.

The statement reads: “This is due to increasing numbers of inactive accounts, as well as changes to the algorithm which drives the content in users’ feeds.

“Despite having 29,000 followers on the platform, many of these accounts are now inactive.

“The number of impressions achieved via the platform is now less than 10% of those achieved two years ago.”

A post published on Thursday April 10 and pinned to the top of Vale of Glamorgan Council’s X account states that it is no longer using the platform and that their account is no longer monitored.