Social networks and the far right: CELL leaves X (and joins other alternatives)

8 min reading

Policy

January 29, 2025

Over the past decade or so, social networks have established themselves as essential spaces for sharing information. Long used as spaces for debate and citizen mobilization, some of them are now being transformed into veritable tools serving the interests of the far right. The policies of Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter), and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Meta (Facebook and Instagram), have a lot to do with this. For CELL, the monopolization of these networks by the extreme right poses a direct threat to democracy and the social and environmental justice we so ardently defend.

Trump, a disaster for the ecology

On his first day in the White House, Donald Trump (once again) withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. Among other disastrous measures for the environment, he promised to lift moratoria on new drilling and mining projects, as well as blocking all new wind power projects in the United States during his term of office, calling wind turbines "an economic and environmental disaster".

Far-right personalities take control of public debate

Since Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, now X, the platform has taken a radical turn. Not only has Musk reinstated accounts suspended for hate speech, including Donald Trump's, but he's also slashed verification of published information and content moderation. This has led to an explosion of misinformation, hateful content, climate-skeptic rhetoric and conspiracy theories.For his part, Mark Zuckerberg, boss of Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp...), recently announced a series of measures to "restore freedom of expression" against "censorship" on his networks: the abolition of Meta's fact-checking teams in the United States, as well as the end of the company's policy of inclusion of minorities, and the prohibition, in particular, of comparing black people to agricultural equipment, or women to property. Mark Zuckerberg also sponsored President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony.

A devastating impact on social and environmental justice

On X, attacks on environmental activists to discredit efforts to promote ecological transition are proliferating. Many activists and environmental associations are suffering online harassment campaigns, hampering their ability to act and communicate. By sowing doubt about the urgency of climate change or downplaying its impacts, climate-skeptic rhetoric delays the adoption of ambitious public policies. This toxic climate contributes to the fatigue and disgust of citizens, who risk becoming disengaged and disinterested in both information and politics, two crucial pillars of civic engagement for our democracies.The shift in Meta's positioning, once considered progressive (in January 2021, following the Capitol Hill riots, Meta suspended Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, citing his "praise for those involved in the violence on Capitol Hill on January 6") towards the far right worries us. Without rigorous work on verifying information on the platforms we use, work hitherto carried out by news agencies and professional journalists; without moderation and bans on sexist, racist and homophobic comments, we're leaving the door open to misinformation and hate speech. We're not fooled: this radical change in Meta's policy in the name of "freedom of expression" is a disguised way of pledging allegiance to Donald Trump, and of disseminating on a large scale - on a global scale in this case - ideas of hate. of the extreme right. In our view, fact-checking and content moderation are the guarantors of democracy. The link between politics, ecology and social justice has been demonstrated more than ever.

They leave X

On November 6, 2024, the day after Donald Trump was re-elected President of the United States, over 115,000 American users deactivated their X (Twitter) accounts, marking the highest number of deletions in a single day since Elon Musk bought the platform.The date of January 20, 2025, the day of Donald Trump's inauguration and Elon Musk's appointment to a government post, has been chosen by numerous organizations around the world to leave X en masse and in a coordinated fashion. Among them, 87 French associations, including Emmaüs, Greenpeace and La Cimade, as well as some 60 German and Austrian universities, have announced their departure, denouncing the lack of moderation and the proliferation of hateful content on the platform. In a forum published in the Nouvel Obs, some forty researchers, experts and journalists specializing in environmental issues have announced their collective withdrawal. of X: "We no longer wish to support a network that has become a tool for mass disinformation, systematic harassment and fragmentation of public debate. In Luxembourg, the number of people leaving X, often in favor of the Bluesky platform, is increasing. Among them are political figures (Tilly Metz, MEP for the Green group, Franz Fayot, LSAP MP, Yuriko Backes, Minister of Finance), civil society organizations (Greenpeace Luxembourg, MSF Luxembourg), media (Tageblatt, Lëtzebuerger Journal, Virgule and radio 100.7), the City of Dudelange and the University of Luxembourg. We join this movement.

Leave X or stay and resist?

The question is: should we leave or stay to counter the ideas of the far right?For David Chavalarias, social networking specialist interviewed by the media on theecology GreenThis question is a trap. There's no reason to stay on a network that doesn't respect any fundamental value of freedom of expression or public debate, and where everything is manipulated from floor to ceiling. If there's a fire in a room, you don't stay there out of solidarity: you help people get out. "We agree. At CELL, we're very careful about the tools, platforms and networks we use. For example, we're not on TikTok for ethical reasons; not least because there's no content moderation or fact-checking on that platform.

Co-creating alternatives

Although imperfect, social networks remain powerful tools for mobilizing and acting in favor of social and environmental justice. At CELL, we couldn't do without them. However, we see their monopolization by the extreme right and the suppression of fact-checking as a real obstacle to democracy. We believe that resisting this trend requires collective mobilization to defend inclusive, fair and transparent digital spaces, to refuse to nurture mortifying models and to build more ethical models together. Legislators must also impose stricter laws on content moderation, and limit the power of the tech giants.For all these reasons, we're taking the decision to leave X, and also questioning our presence on Meta (Facebook and Instagram). We have just joined Bluesky and also plan to join Pixelfeld (a similar alternative to Instagram), and Mastodon, open-source platforms that emphasize decentralization and rigorous moderation policies, favoring collaborative and ethical models. Are you already on any of them? Do you have any opinions or recommendations? In the meantime, here are some recommended actions and accounts to follow:

Quit X with HelloQuitteXa platform created by CNRS researchers helps you transfer data and subscribers to other platforms
Join independent social networks, like Mastodon or Bluesky
Subscribe to independent media, such as Greenan ecological media offering high-quality journalism,
Download Chillia revolutionary application for climate action that facilitates mobilization against anti-democratic and ecocidal projects,
Follow us on LinkedIn and Bluesky (and soon on Mastodon)!
Share our post / article with your network!