{"id":24532,"date":"2025-01-28T14:47:34","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T13:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/?p=24532"},"modified":"2025-01-28T14:47:35","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T13:47:35","slug":"why-we-are-leaving-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talking-hope.org\/en\/why-we-are-leaving-x\/","title":{"rendered":"WHY WE ARE LEAVING X"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Let’s talk
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WHY WE ARE LEAVING X<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

By Eva-Maria McCormack and Fine Hornbostel<\/em> <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Following the latest developments surrounding Elon Musk and Platform X, we at Talking Hope have decided to cease our activities on X. Connecting with our community, however, remains a top priority for us. In future, we will focus on LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Mastodon. We look forward to continuing our conversation with you there.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once, “Twitter” was a space for civil dialogue \u2014 a hub where citizens, journalists, politicians, foundations, and civil society organizations engaged with one another, even when opinions diverged greatly. We appreciated participating in this diversity. However, since Elon Musk’s acquisition, X has devolved into a platform where hate speech, disinformation, and dehumanizing content are not only inadequately moderated but increasingly amplified.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We believe that meaningful civil dialogue, which is critical to addressing the pressing challenges of our time, cannot thrive under such conditions. Like many other users<\/a>, we initially deliberated whether leaving X was the right move. Wouldn’t it be better to counteract hate speech, fake news, and far-right content where it was uttered, we asked ourselves.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, Musk’s actions have crossed a line for us. Since his appointment as head of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) in Donald Trump\u2019s new US-administration, Musk has not only been acting as “shadow president” in the U.S..  He is now actively interfering in the German electoral process<\/a>, supports far-right parties in Europe<\/a>, and even openly performed a Hitler salute during Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration<\/a>. For us, such actions go far beyond personal freedom of opinion. Staying on X would mean that we contribute to providing further reach and normalization of these extreme ideologies. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We are experts in socially inclusive climate communication: Our mission is to build bridges among people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. But there is a boundary \u2014 and this boundary is crossed when someone with immense financial and media power actively spreads hate and disinformation, undermines democratic elections, and does not shy away from a Hitler salute.”<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eva-Maria McCormack,<\/em><\/strong>
Founder, Talking Hope gUG<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our vision is a fair and sustainable future in which all people can thrive and live together peacefully. Promoting democracy and advocating for social justice are at the heart of our work, and this very much includes engaging with those who may hold different opinions. We take pride in our own diverse backgrounds. As specialists in socially inclusive (climate) communication, we want to build bridges and we have developed a communications framework<\/a> and tools to connect with people across societal differences.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, remaining on a platform led by someone who consistently aligns himself with far-right, fascist, and misogynistic rhetoric \u2014 and uses that platform to advance this agenda politically \u2014 fundamentally contradicts our values of democracy, free expression, social justice and accountability for a sustainable world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are also monitoring developments on Instagram<\/a> with concern. Therefore, we will shift our focus to LinkedIn, Bluesky, Mastodon and Medium. Since Instagram remains a key platform for much of our audience, we will critically observe its further development while maintaining our engagement at this time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staying connected with you and our community, however, remains essential for us. You can now find us here: Bluesky<\/a>, Mastodon<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> and Medium<\/a>.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please stay in touch and continue to engage with us on those channels<\/a>. We also invite you to subscribe to our newsletter<\/a>, which appears about four times a year. We look forward to continue our conversation with you! Thank you for your support!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change is only possible if we are part of it. How we communicate with one another is a crucial part of building a fairer world. Let\u2019s do this together! <\/p>\n\n\n

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