The Guardian quits X social media site, claiming racism and fake news

The Guardian, a British news organization, said on Wednesday that it will no longer post to X because of “disturbing content” on the site, such as racist posts and conspiracy theories.

The Guardian, a left-leaning news outlet with 10.7 million users on X, is the first big UK media company to leave the platform that Elon Musk bought in 2022.

Some people say that Musk’s lack of involvement has let lies and hate speech spread on the site that used to be called Twitter.

“We believe that the cons of being on X now outweigh the pros, and that resources would be better spent promoting our journalism elsewhere,” the Guardian wrote in an online editorial.

“This is something we have been considering for a while given the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism.”

Musk replied with a post that opened a new tab on X and told the Guardian, “They don’t matter.”

Musk has said that he is protecting free speech. Before Trump won the U.S. election this month, he backed him.

Trump put Musk in charge of making the government work better on Tuesday.

Online posts falsely said that an attack in the northern English town of Southport, where three young girls were killed, was the work of an Islamist immigrant. This led to far-right and racist violence. The part of X and other platforms came under extreme scrutiny in Britain.