SNP members at the party's annual conference in Aberdeen have overwhelmingly passed a resolution in support of a UK-wide ban on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The motion also calls for the Scottish Government, Holyrood authorities, elected representatives, councils and other public bodies to remove themselves from the site.
The resolution stressed the need for "responsible use of social media" and insisted that the SNP and public bodies should "not make use of harmful platforms that harbour abusive content". X was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk in 2022 and is now owned by SpaceX's artificial intelligence subsidiary, SpaceXAI.
Reasons for leaving the platform
Moving the resolution, SNP member Erin Lux said: "There are so many reasons we need to remove ourselves and our services from this platform." She claimed that X and its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok "continue to host and produce child sexual abuse material", and described X as a "hotbed of mis- and disinformation".
Ms Lux also said research showed using the platform "shifted views rightwards", asking delegates: "Why on earth are we continuing to post there?" She added: "It is indefensible we are lending our credibility as a party, and the credibility of our elected officials to a site that has become a hotbed of misinformation and abuse."
The party has almost 320,000 followers on X and regularly posts on the platform, including updates from the conference in recent days.
Case against a ban
Fellow SNP member David Birkett argued against a ban, saying he could "understand why people don't like" the platform but the party should remain active on it because of its larger user numbers compared with rival social media sites. He told the conference: "Bluesky has 10.4 million active monthly users, X has 551 million. Bluesky has three million daily active users, X has 251 million. Those numbers speak for themselves."
Mr Birkett added: "I also believe in treating party bodies, candidates and elected members like grown-ups, who can make their own assessment of which platforms they choose to join without some edict." He highlighted the role X can play in informing travellers about delays and disruptions to ferries, train services and on the roads, saying: "Maybe one day Bluesky and others will have the reach that X does and we can rethink this. But until it does, we should keep the party, the Government, the Parliament and other public bodies on the platform."
X has been contacted for comment.
