do you know this application to quit X, the old Twitter, developed by a CNRS mathematician?

While the Paris town hall has just closed its X account (formerly Twitter), a collective called HelloQuitteX offers an application to facilitate this process of migration to other social networks. An initiative in which a researcher from the CNRS, the National Center for Scientific Research, took part.

It was on X that the Paris town hall announced… leaving X (formerly Twitter). The most followed community in France on this social network, with 2.2 million subscribers, will close its account on January 20, the day of Donald Trump's inauguration.

“Through its algorithms and the successive positions taken by its leader, X is suspected of interference in the democratic life of certain States (in Germany or the United Kingdom for example)” the City of Paris justifies itself, specifying that this drift “undermines the foundations of democracy.” The boss of X, Elon Musk, is in fact a fervent supporter of the future American president and will also be part of his government.

Patrick Bloche, first deputy, adds that the platform “no longer meets the conditions allowing the City of Paris to carry out its public service mission of providing information to Parisians.” A decision taken in the wake of Anne Hidalgo, mayor of the capital, who personally left the network in November 2023.

Before Paris, many other organizations or communities also chose to abandon the network. In our region, the municipalities of Noisy-le-Sec, Pantin and Vitry-sur-Seine are among them. Sports institutions are also getting involved, such as Red Star FC since last December. The football club felt that X was now in use “to amplify hateful and polarizing speech, thereby playing a key role in the manipulation of public opinion.”

So to encourage this dynamic and facilitate migration to other social networks, a collective created HelloQuitteX. Around thirty volunteers worked on this project.transpartisan and apolitical.” Among them, developers, lawyers, journalists, associations such as the Human Rights League and researchers, like the mathematician David Chavalarias.

“Many people who want to leave X are unable to do so because they are captive to their audience. We therefore offer them a gateway allowing them to duplicate the social environment of such as Bluesky and Mastodon”, explains the researcher at the CNRS and director of the Institute of Complex Systems in Paris Ile-de-France.

Concretely, users download their archives from X and thanks to this application (taking its name from a play on words with “Hello Kitty”, a Japanese brand), they can transfer their subscribers and subscriptions to other networks.

The objective, like the Paris town hall, is to collectively leave Elon Musk's social network just before the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20. “This communication network is failing, because it is used for political purposes by its leader.”says David Chavalarias. “Several studies have documented this. For example, the network shows you more than 49% toxic content. The algorithm brings up insulting content, often different from what you subscribe to.adds the researcher. “It was also one of the first networks to close its content moderation center and thus allow calls for violence, hatred, and neo-Nazi content to proliferate.”

In 10 days, the tool has already been used by more than 7 000 people and recorded exponential development, with more than 1 000 users daily currently.

David Chavalarias has been working for a long time on the impact of networks on society and notably wrote a book on the subject in 2022, Toxic Data. (Ed. Champs).

For him, the subject is not just political and goes well beyond that. “Science's duty is to try to improve society, to understand how it works and to propose solutions. The question of collective and social debate, these are questions of research”, he explains. And to complete his thought: “As scientists, we indicate what is dangerous and what needs to be improved and then it is up to politicians to choose. Our role is to create new possibilities for society.” The mathematician also talks about interest in research through HelloQuitteX.

What is interesting is how these new, more open, decentralized digital environments can help us build better societies.

David Chavalarias, researcher at CNRS

Against the grain, other voices and media have indicated that they do not want to leave X. This is the case of Charlie Hebdo. The satirical weekly says it does not want to give up “an opportunity to express oneself”, and subsequently published several caricatures of the American billionaire and boss of the platform. “Elon Musk prides himself on defending freedom of expression. Charlie Hebdo has decided to make full use of it by broadcasting caricatures of its famous boss.according to a press release.

Senator Ian Brossat has similarly decided to maintain his X account for the moment. “Thathe commented to AFP.

Reluctance and questions that David Chavalarias expected. “If there is a fire in a room, without doors or windows, you either stay in solidarity, or you find an emergency exit and get out. It makes no sense to stay while the network is deteriorating and your boss controls the winds and currents of information, you can only poison yourself.”

The mathematician nevertheless specifies that his platform is “another road, but we don't force anyone to take it.”