'Running away!' Now Culture Secretary quits X with parting rant at 'misinformation'
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has quit X with a parting shot at so-called "misinformation" on the platform.
The Labour minister announced her decision in her final of more than 10,000 posts on Elon Musk's social media site, adding that her department would also be leaving.
Ms Nandy wrote: "A platform originally designed for free speech and expression now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate.
"It isn't healthy for our democracy or our communities and I don’t want to support it."
She confirmed she would continue posting on other platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn - and even encouraged X users to follow her.
Ms Nandy's decision was swiftly blasted by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who replied to the post: "DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport) is supposed to counter and deal with misinformation, not run away because it's all too much."
DCMS is the second department to leave the platform in a matter of days, after Lord Hermer told the Attorney General's Office to leave X over "racism and misogyny".
Asked why his department had stopped using it, Lord Hermer told the Commons Justice Committee: "I made that decision. I can understand why other departments feel they need to be on the pitch engaging with people but that is not where the Attorney General's Office needs to be.
"I think for the work that I can do I can engage with people in serious debate, detailed debate, respectful debate without being on a platform that constantly descends to racism and misogyny."
Sir Keir Starmer has been highly criticial of Mr Musk's use of his social media platform, accusing him of trying to “whip up division” in Britain following the murder of Henry Nowak.
The tech tycoon posted numerous times about the case after Vikram Digwa was convicted of murdering the 18-year-old.
Mr Musk criticised the actions of officers who handcuffed the student after he was stabbed, noting “how heinously Nowak was treated by the police in his dying moments”.
The Prime Minister subsequently accused the X owner of "interfering" in British politics and said the UK needed to “assert who we are” as “reasonable, tolerant people”.
A number of MPs - including Lib Dem Layla Moran and Labour's Darren Paffrey - left the social media platform following reports that X's Grok AI tool was being used to create sexualised images of women without consent.
Sir Keir condemned the development at the time, declaring: "This is disgraceful. It's disgusting. And it's not to be tolerated.”
"X has got to get a grip of this. Ofcom has our full support to take action in relation to this," the soon-to-be-gone PM raged.
"This is wrong. It's unlawful. We're not going to tolerate it. I've asked for all options to be on the table."
The remarks sparked a row between the British Government and US lawmakers, who warned of "consequences" for the Prime Minister and Britain if X was banned in the country.
Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican Congresswoman, said: "If Starmer is successful in banning X in Britain, I will move forward with legislation that is currently being drafted to sanction not only Starmer, but Britain as a whole."
The key Trump ally described the threats as a "political war against Elon Musk and free speech - nothing more".