Research Professional News - More than 60 German universities and research institutions leave X

Frances Jones
10 Jan 2025

Changes to the social media platform make further use “untenable”, group says

Over 60 German universities and research institutions have announced they are leaving the social media platform X due to a “lack of compatibility between the platform and the institutions’ core values”.

“Changes to X—from the algorithmic amplification of right-wing populist content to the restriction of organic reach—make further use untenable,” the group said in a joint statement on 10 January.

Since billionaire Elon Musk purchased the platform in 2022, “not only have X’s reach and interaction rate seen a steady decline…the platform’s algorithm has also been manipulated to favour content that corresponds to its owner’s worldview”, according to Goethe University in Frankfurt, one of the universities leaving the platform.

Research Professional News has asked X for comment.

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