European Federation of Journalists to Cease Posting on Elon Musk’s X
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has announced that it will stop publishing content on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) from January 20th, 2025, coinciding with Donald Trump’s official inauguration as the 47th president of the United States. The EFJ stated that it can no longer ethically support a platform that has been transformed into a “machine of disinformation and propaganda” under Musk’s ownership.
The EFJ, representing over 295,000 journalists across 44 countries, joins a growing list of media organizations pulling back from the platform, including The Guardian, Dagens Nyheter, La Vanguardia, Ouest-France, and Sud-Ouest.
EFJ’s General Secretary, Ricardo Gutiérrez, emphasized the threat posed to democracy and freedom of expression by the growing alliance between Musk and Trump, noting that Musk’s leadership of X undermines press freedom. EFJ President Maja Sever further criticized X for becoming a breeding ground for conspiracy theories, racism, far-right ideologies, and misogynistic rhetoric, stating that the platform now serves the interests of Musk and his political allies rather than the public good.
The EFJ’s decision underscores a broader concern about X’s editorial direction since Musk’s acquisition and his controversial political ties. The organization called on its members and other freedom of expression advocates to migrate to other platforms, distancing themselves from a network that no longer aligns with their values of media pluralism and human rights.
