On Friday, dozens of universities and establishments of studies in Germany and Austria announced plans to abandon their presence on the online messaging platform X (previously Twitter), claiming that their algorithms opposed a speech on clinical and democratic integrity.
The planned withdrawal in the academic sphere comes as the German government says it is also considering leaving the platform because it was having an “agitated and polarizing” effect on public political discussion.
The GEW unions, which constitute educators and teachers, and Verdi announced that they would suppress their presence on Thursday, as indicated by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).
In a statement, the institutions, which come with some of Germany’s top prestigious universities, said X was following a path that ran counter to its principles.
“The withdrawal is a consequence of the incompatability of the platform’s current orientation with the fundamental values of the institutions involved: open-mindedness, scientific integrity, transparency and democratic discourse,” a joint statement said.
It said the way X’s algorithm reinforced the propagation of right-wing populist content while restricting other views made any further use of the platform by the signees “untenable.”
The German government, in turn, said Friday that X and other social media platforms were employing algorithms that did not advertise “calm, objective and balanced speech, but speech that tends to agitate and polarize. ”
A spokesperson said the government was discussing whether to abandon the platform, but that it should remain that way given the timing of the wide audience that can be reached through its services.
She denied that the government’s concerns about X were linked to owner Elon Musk’s involvement in German politics.
Musk has given vocal support to the German far-right party Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) via his platform, something that has caused concern to several politicians in Germany ahead of February elections.
These comments come a day after Musk spoke live on the platform with Alice Weidel, leader of the AFD.
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He has also taken an interest in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor government in the United Kingdom recently, calling for him to resign.
Critics also say that the platform removes misinformation and hate speech.
The European Commission is recently examining whether Musk, a supporter of US President-elect Donald Trump, respects the rules in force in Europe on social networks.
TJ/MSH (DPA, AFP)