LABOUR MPs have started to quit Twitter/X, with one saying that Elon Musk had turned it into a “megaphone for foreign adversaries and far-right fringe groups”.
It comes as Musk clashed with former first minister Humza Yousaf, labelling him a “scumbag” and “daring” the MSP to sue him.
Social media platforms have come under increasing pressure in recent weeks to tackle disinformation, particularly after Downing Street was forced to issue a statement on misinformation following the stabbing of three young girls in Southport.
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The Guardian reports that newly elected Labour MPs took to WhatsApp groups to raise concerns about the role Twitter/X played in the spread of misinformation amid far-right riots in England and Northern Ireland.
The newspaper reports that two Labour MPs are known to have told colleagues they were leaving the platform.
One of them, MP for St Austell and Newquay Noah Law, has disabled his account while other MPs have started examining alternatives.
Musk has also been embroiled in a public spat with Keir Starmer after the Twitter/X owner claimed “civil war is inevitable” in the UK.
Over the weekend, Home Office minister Jess Phillips (above) said she wanted to scale back her use of the platform as it had become a “place of misery”.
A government minister also told the Guardian they had reduced posts over the summer and that Musk’s actions had made them “very reluctant to return”.
Labour MP for Makerfield Josh Simons said he was looking into using alternative platforms and added: “He’s (Musk) turned X into a megaphone for foreign adversaries and far-right fringe groups seeking to corrupt our public sphere. Nobody should have that power.”
Meanwhile, Labour MP for Sunderland Central Lewis Atkinson has started to gather a list of MPs from the party who use Threads while Jo Platt, MP for Leigh, quit Twitter/X before the General Election.
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A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said the UK Government had no plans to review its use of Twitter/X.
They said: “With all of our communications, it’s important to make sure that we reach the broadest possible audience, and that is one of a number of channels that we use to ensure that we’re doing that.”
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