This project is led in particular by a small team of developers coordinated by the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).
A French collective has developed an application that helps X users migrate to other social networks without losing their contacts. Objective: collectively leave the platform on January 20, the day of Donald Trump's inauguration. Institutions, ministries, cities, media, public figures… In recent weeks, announcements of departures from the American social network have multiplied around the world.
In France, this is particularly the case of the Paris town hall, the Pasteur Institute, and more than 80 associations, including the Human Rights League and Emmaüs, which denounced “the absence of moderation and the configuration of algorithms” Who “promote the proliferation of hateful content” on the platform of American billionaire Elon Musk. It is to support them that “HelloQuitteX” was set up, a science-citizen project now made up of more than 30 people from different associations and organizations, almost all volunteers, including a small team of developers coordinated by the National Center for scientific research (CNRS).
Like the astrophysicist Éric Lagadec or the environmental association “Générations Futures”, users of “HelloQuitteX” display the automatic message on their account “I just did my #eXit”. “Many users are captive to their audience on X”explains to AFP David Chavalarias, mathematician at CNRS at the origin of the concept. “Some cannot decide to leave, for fear of losing their sources or their audience.”
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Not the first movement of departures
“HelloQuitteX” – which takes its name from a play on words with the Japanese brand “Hello Kitty” – offers the user to transfer their subscribers and subscriptions to Bluesky or Mastodon, judged “more compatible with privacy and freedom of expression”according to its creators. To do this, they must retrieve their personal archives from X and upload them to the “HelloQuitteX” website. The developers undertake to delete all this data afterwards. According to David Chavalarias, more than 5,000 people and organizations registered in one week.
“HelloQuitteX” is not the first movement of departures that the platform has experienced: several waves of digital migrations have already taken place, notably after the takeover in 2022, then following the re-election of Donald Trump in November. If the date of his inauguration was chosen, it is also to mark the link between the two billionaires, Trump having appointed Musk to head a ministry of “governmental efficiency”.
In recent weeks, on his own social network, the billionaire has attacked numerous European leaders, including German Social Democrat Olaf Scholz and British Labor Party Keir Starmer, and has openly supported far-right parties, such as German AfD. Faced with accusations of spreading false information and not allocating sufficient resources to moderate exchanges, Elon Musk defends a radical vision of freedom of expression and rejects all forms of censorship.
A point of view which Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg seems to have endorsed, who recently introduced changes to his moderation policies, raising fears of a setback in the fight against hate speech or harassment of minorities. Which could ultimately lead to a new digital exodus, according to David Chavalarias. “Facebook would be a next step if its ideologization continues” he says.
