Almost 80 municipal accounts will be closed from the decision that comes into force on Friday (31.jan)
It announced it on Monday (27.jan.2025) the definitive departure from social network X (former Twitter). Almost 80 municipal accounts will be closed from the decision that comes into force on Friday (31.jan), making the capital of Spain the first city of the country to adopt the measure.
Mayor Jaume Collboni (Party of the Catalonia Socialists, Center left) will sign a decree to effect the measure, which will come into force on January 31. Provisionally, only one account on the social network will be maintained, the @bcn_ajuntamentto inform emergencies, meteorological alerts and mobility difficulties.
In, the city hall justifies its decision as a reinforcement to the commitment to the right of citizens to receive true and honest information, intending to maintain themselves “Non -technological world leader and digital democracy.”
“The decision is the result of a commitment to the right of citizens to receive true and honest information . At the same time, we want to continue to be world leaders in technological humanism and digital democracy; A will that has become incompatible with staying on the social network X (former Twitter), immersed in a spiral of misinformation and intransigence that directly attacks democracy directly“He said.
The management reported that “All municipal information will remain accessible in the remaining official municipal channels, the City Council website, the newsletters and the mobile applications currently in operation.”
New measures
The City Council will implement new means to ensure that information reaches citizens:
- Reinforcement of official channels on other platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Telegram, Youtube and municipal applications.
- Update on the City Council website, incorporating new features to make it more accessible and dynamic.
- Creation of a monthly digital newsletter with the most relevant news, which will reach directly to the citizens’ email.
- Awareness campaigns about the importance of true information, aimed especially at young people and digital users.
Paris also ended account
On January 17, the Paris City Hall that would stop using the social network because of the “promotion of hate speech and misinformation
According to management, the city will remain active on other platforms, such as the Bluesky network. The decision follows the action of Mayor Anne Hidalgo (Socialist Party, left), who had already abandoned the X in November 2023, by criticizing the network because it became harmful to democracies.
