The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has announced that it will stop publishing content on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, from January 20th, 2025, when Donald Trump will officially become the 47th president of the United States.
The organisation stated that it can “no longer ethically participate in a social network that its owner has transformed into a machine of disinformation and propaganda”.
It joins The Guardian and other European media outlets including Dagens Nyheter, La Vanguardia, Ouest-France and Sud-Ouest in coming off the platform, due to the impact of Musk on the organisation.
The EFJ is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing over 295,000 journalists in 44 countries has announced that it will stop posting content on X.
The company’s general secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez stated:
“After the US elections, EFJ pointed out the threat to democracy and freedom of expression posed by the cooperation between the president of the most powerful country in the world, Donald J. Trump, and the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, who is also the owner of social network X and has been appointed to lead a “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) when Donald J. Trump takes office as president on January 20, 2025.
“We cannot continue to participate in the social network feed of a man who proclaims the death of the media and therefore of journalists”, said the president of EFJ, Maja Sever.
“The social media site X has become the preferred vector for conspiracy theories, racism, far-right ideas and misogynistic rhetoric. X is a platform that no longer serves the public interest at all, but the special ideological and financial interests of its owner and his political allies”, he writes further.
“The editorial evolution of X, since its acquisition by Elon Musk, is simply contrary to our humanist values, our commitment to press freedom and media pluralism, and our fight against all forms of hatred and discrimination. The decision to suspend our @EFJEUROPE account seemed clear to us and we invite all our members and all organizations defending freedom of expression to migrate to other platforms.”
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