The Guardian, the London-based left-leaning newspaper whose editor-in-chief lately provided staffers free psychological well being counseling to deal with President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, will not submit on Elon Musk’s X to protest “far-right conspiracy theories and racism” on the social media platform.
The publication made the announcement in a Wednesday submit explaining to readers that it’s going to not submit any of the newspaper’s editorial content material from official accounts on X.
“We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere,” the newspaper wrote on Wednesday.
The Guardian mentioned it was mulling the transfer “for a while” in mild of the “often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism.”
The presidential marketing campaign and the re-election of Trump “served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.”
X customers will nonetheless be capable to share hyperlinks to Guardian content material and Guardian reporters will “occasionally” embed content material from the platform inside information tales.
However X “now plays a diminished role in promoting our work,” based on the newspaper.
Guardian ended its submit by urging readers to donate to the publication, whose enterprise mannequin depends on voluntary monetary help from the general public.
The Put up has sought remark from X.
After Trump trounced Vice President Kamala Harris in final Tuesday’s election, Guardian editor-in-chief Katherine Viner urged staffers on the publication’s UK and Australia workplaces to contact their US-based colleagues to “offer your support.”
“I know the result has been very upsetting for many colleagues,” Viner wrote in an e mail which was obtained by The Put up.
“If you want to talk about it, your manager and members of the leadership team are all available, as is the People team.”
Viner — who has been in control of 203-year-old London publication since 2015 — additionally tried to fund-raise off of Trump’s political comeback, which she referred to as “an extraordinary, devastating moment in the history” of the US.
She penned an essay Wednesday urging readers to donate with a view to assist it “stand up to four more years of (Trump).”
Musk, who purchased what was then often known as Twitter in late 2022 and rebranded it X, has been an enthusiastic backer of Trump throughout the marketing campaign.
Trump on Tuesday rewarded Musk by naming him as co-chair of a newly created Division of Authorities Effectivity — a non-governmental entity that may act as an advisory panel to the incoming administration.
Musk has pledged to make use of his enterprise acumen and connections to the tech world to slash authorities crimson tape and minimize spending.
Trump’s victory and Musk’s position in selling his candidacy prompted web customers emigrate to rival apps resembling Bluesky and Threads.
