should we leave X? The left is torn

POLITICS – This is the story of a letter that invaded our phones. To obtain information, be entertained, exchange ideas or pass the time, But this Monday, January 20 could mark a rupture. The extremely wealthy Elon Musk, owner of the famous social network, officially takes office alongside his now ally Donald Trump.

Charged with a mission of deregulation and reduction of public spending at the head of the future Department of Government Efficiency, the multi-billionaire worries the whole world with his frenzied interventionism in the service of the most reactionary ideas. He is accused of wanting to turn X into a disinformation machine, where controversies and clashes are promoted, to the detriment of argued and measured content.

This January 20 therefore marks a leap into the unknown. What will Elon Musk do with the powerful social network he owns? Faced with the fog, many political figures have announced their desire to close their X account. Not without weighing the pros and cons. We know how much elected officials love the platform, which allows them to post content (tweets, photos, reports) without having to go through traditional media. They manage their own communication there, and are identified by both voters and journalists.

“Impact on reality”

On the left, the question turns into a dilemma. In a letter sent to all NFP deputies, the ecologist Sandrine Rousseau asks them “to stop posting on the platform collectively”. “We saw, particularly during the last American elections, how X was used to shape political discourse”she explains. An approach supported by 19 left-wing deputies, including André Chassaigne (PCF), Cyrielle Chatelain, Jérémie Iordanoff and Marie Pochon (Ecologists) and Pierrick Courbon (PS).

Marine Tondelier went even further: describing ” dangerous “the national secretary of the Greens calls for its ban. While recognizing on RTL that leaving or staying on the social network “is a debate that we have every day at the party leadership”. The problem being, according to her, that “still an impact on reality” and contributes “to destabilize the elections”. Elon Musk has recently set his sights on Germany, where he supports the far-right AfD party.

“Racist or homophobic comments”

A sign of the debates agitating the left, Olivier Faure explained « with ask the question » to close or not their X account. What bothers me is that if we leave the social network and leave it only to the far right and people of good faith continue to believe that that's where it's happening, they don't 'have no more alternative speech'defended the First Secretary of the PS on BFMTV.

The Insoumis do not seem to make it a priority. Committed to their strategy of occupying the ground wherever they can, they are refusing for the moment to leave the platform. “It should not be done as an individual decisionsaid Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the Grand Jury stage this Sunday, January 19. Either we make a collective decision, or there is no point in going away one by one.”. The founder of La France insoumise, however, assures that he has not “the intention to say that X is good”. He also adopts Emmanuel Macron's formula on “the reactionary international” which is being established under the control of Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

“I remain master”

LFI deputies Manuel Bompard and Antoine Léaument also have no intention of leaving. The first preferring to refer to the legal framework: “For example, how is it possible that there are racist or homophobic comments on X? The law must also apply to these platforms”. Conversely, Loïc Prud'homme, also labeled LFI, expressed the wish to no longer post on X.

In fact, the decision is not unanimous in any left-wing party. Among the Greens, contrary to the movement driven by the majority of its executives, former European MP Karima Delli has expressed her wish to stay. Same with the socialists. A heavyweight of the PS entrusts HuffPost : « I think it's a bad idea to leave X. Even if the algorithm favors far-right content, I remain in control of what I put there. And my publications have a strong audience. So I don’t see the point in cutting ourselves off from this broadcast channel.”

This same socialist executive, however, refuses to go to CNews, known for providing a sounding board for the most reactionary ideas. “It’s not the same with themargues our interlocutor. Speech is biased by the questions and themes they put up for debate. Whereas on X, I control my speech 100%”.

Politicians' fear is of losing a large part of their audience. MEP Raphaël Glucksmann thus seems to be walking on eggshells. Followed by 315,000 people on X, he explained on France Inter that he wanted « organiser [son] departure fromwithout giving a precise date. “We must get our communities to leave this network”he explains. One of the alternatives proposed by collectives like HelloQuitteX consists of massively joining BlueSky or Mastodon, to reconstitute the community of X. But the path promises to be long and winding.

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