Several British police forces have significantly scaled back or stopped using the social media platform X due to concerns about “misinformation.”
According to a report by the Daily Mail, a survey by Reuters that visually monitored posts on X from 44 territorial police forces and British Transport Police over the past three months found a considerable decrease in posts compared to the same period last year.
North Wales Police has not posted since October, and West Midlands Police, one of the largest forces in the UK, reduced its posts on X by about 95 percent. Lancashire Police also cut its activity on the site by 75 percent.
“We understand that, as the digital landscape changes, so too does our audiences' channels of choice,” Lancashire Police said.
Further, Derbyshire Police last posted on August 12 and has since limited its interactions to responding to questions. The force noted that it was reviewing its social media presence.
This current trend mirrors actions taken by some UK media outlets in recent weeks. The Guardian notably announced that it would stop posting on X, citing the platform’s "toxic" environment. The publication claimed that under the ownership of Elon Musk, X has fostered an increase in "far-right conspiracies" and "racism," making the drawbacks of remaining on the platform outweigh the benefits.
Musk, who took over X (formerly Twitter) in 2022, has been criticized by British police leaders for comments he has made about recent events in the country.
In August, Musk posted on the platform that “civil war is inevitable” in the UK. The comment was in response to a post that said mass migration was to blame for violent demonstrations being carried out in the country. This prompted UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to respond to Musk’s claims, saying “there’s no justification for that.”
Last week, Musk also branded Britain a "tyrannical police state" and endorsed calls for a new election.
