By Andy Bruce
(Reuters) – Several British police forces have largely withdrawn from Elon Musk’s X social media platform as concerns about its role in promoting violence and extreme content persist, a Reuters analysis of the military’s social media platform shows.
X, formerly Twitter, was used to spread the falsehoods that sparked riots in Britain this summer, and restored British accounts that had been banned for violence.
Musk’s comments in August that Britain’s civil war was “inevitable” drew rebukes from Downing Street and police chiefs.
Critics argue that Musk’s behavior encourages hate speech, although Musk has said he is defending free speech and has described Britain as a “police state”.
Reuters reported in October that North Wales Police had stopped posting on X. Others are moving that way, according to Tuesday’s investigation.
Reuters reviewed submissions on X from 44 local police forces and the British Transport Police in the three months to Nov. 13 and focused on those that had fewer positions, comparing what they published with the previous year.
Reuters then met with those eight soldiers.
West Midlands Police, one of Britain’s largest forces serving Birmingham’s second city, has cut X positions by 95 per cent in the year since.
Lancashire Police, in the north of England, has cut its use of X by three-quarters compared to last year.
“We understand that, as the digital environment changes, so do our audience’s choices,” the military said.
And Derbyshire Police, which serves about a million people in central England, held its last post on August 12 and has only responded to inquiries since then. It said it is reviewing its social media presence.
X-COMMUNICATION
Some authorities said that X continued to help improve things like road closures, but platforms like Facebook and Instagram were better at reaching the community.
X did not respond to a request for comment.
X has been the number one communication tool for the British government, public services, organizations and millions of people for over a decade.
It had just over 10 million users of the British app in October, compared to 4.5 million for Threads and 443,000 for Blue Sky, according to data from digital intelligence platform Similaweb.
But usage is falling, with users of the British app down 19% on last year, Similaweb data showed.
The government still sends to X but does not use the paid communication. However, it advertises on Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, a government source said last month.