Short message service More and more Swiss personalities and institutions are leaving X
The short messaging service X has also lost its reputation in Switzerland. More and more personalities and institutions are turning their backs on tech billionaire Elon Musk's platform.
10.01.2025, 12:38
SDA
On Friday, the news portal Watson announced that it was closing its X accounts. The reason given was the increasing "denial of reality" desired by the owners.
The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) and the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research also announced that they were withdrawing from X and switching to the short message service Bluesky. The Sempach Ornithological Institute is also no longer active on X.
In Swiss politics, Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider is one of the pioneers. With Threads, she has opted for the alternative of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The new President of the Swiss Confederation Karin Keller-Sutter, on the other hand, only set up an account on X this year.
Fierce criticism of Musk
In Germany, more than 60 universities and research institutions, including the Technical University of Dresden and Berlin's Humboldt University, have announced in a joint statement that they are leaving the platform. "The values that promote diversity, freedom and science are no longer present on the platform," the statement said.
X and company owner Musk have been under increasing criticism for months. The accusation concerns the unhindered dissemination of hate messages and disinformation. Musk himself has recently repeatedly interfered in the domestic politics of European countries with comments on X. In Germany, he called for the right-wing populist AfD to be elected or discussed with AfD leader Alice Weidel on his platform and once again campaigned for the AfD. The entrepreneur is now also a special advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump.
