Quebec organizations, including the College of Physicians, left the social network X owned by billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday. Others are considering joining the wave of departures.
Posted at 10:30 a.m.
Updated at 3:56 p.m.
“The College of Physicians no longer broadcasts here. Find us on our other platforms,” the College said Tuesday morning on X.
The College judges that the content of the X platform has become “impoverished” with the gradual departure of “several large organizations”. “Moreover, the increasingly aggressive tone of the speakers discourages many people from using this platform,” added the College in a statement to The Press.
The College was followed by more than 12,000 subscribers on the platform and had made more than 3,000 publications over the years. The College will continue its online activities on the Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn networks.
SCREENSHOT ON X
The Federation of Specialist Physicians of Quebec (FMSQ), which is still active on the social network, says it is considering this subject. For its part, the Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) will wait to see the College’s arguments before taking a position.
Several organizations in the health field have, however, decided to remain on the platform. This is particularly the case of the Order of Nurses of Quebec (OIIQ).
In October 2022, billionaire Elon Musk, who also owns the companies Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink, bought the social network Twitter and renamed it X less than a year later. In recent months, several media outlets and educational establishments around the world have announced their departure from the platform, to protest against the decisions of its owner.
Quebec magazines for young people also left X on Tuesday. “Attached to rigor in science and information – which never prevents having fun – the Débrouillards and Curium are leaving the social network X,” declared the general director and interim publisher of Publications BLD, Marie Allard.
The World leaves
Monday, the French newspaper The World announced that he was leaving X on the day of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.
-“The alliance between Donald Trump and social platform bosses, such as Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, represents a threat on a global scale to free access to reliable information. The World has therefore chosen to interrupt the sharing of its content on
Tuesday, the French newspaper Liberation followed suit. “Collaboration with this platform is no longer compatible with the values of our newspaper,” he announced to his 3.5 million subscribers.
Elon Musk was appointed in November by Donald Trump to head a new “government effectiveness” department. For his part, Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta, which brings together Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, and Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon and Washington Postalso gave their support to the president.
“This unprecedented alliance not only poses a major danger to American democracy, the ravages of which Montesquieu anticipated, of a large-scale confusion between general interest and particular interests,” declared Mr. Fenoglio.
In November, the British newspaper The Guardian left X calling the social network a “toxic media platform”.
In universities
Recently, more than 60 higher education establishments in Germany announced their withdrawal from X. In Quebec, several universities say they are following the evolution of the platform, while continuing to use it.
This is particularly the case of the University of Sherbooke, which “is currently in analysis to decide whether, in the present context, it will continue to use it or not,” its spokesperson, Isabelle Huard, said on Tuesday. Same thing at the University of Quebec in Montreal, which claims to continue its reflections “for the future”.
For its part, the University of Montreal continues to publish on X, but has no longer interacted with users since last fall. “We also opened an account on Bluesky and we want to develop this avenue,” says the establishment’s spokesperson, Geneviève O’Meara.
The National Federation of Teachers of Quebec (FNEEQ-CSN) had already stopped using the social network due to the “unhealthy climate” which reigns there.
Its last publication dates back to the end of 2024. “The controversies which have multiplied since then only confirm our decision to stop communicating on this platform,” maintains Benoît Lacoursière, president of the FNEEQ – CSN.
