“Ouest-France” announces suspending its publications on the social network

After the Guardian in the United Kingdom and The Vanguard in Spain, it is the third European daily to leave these days the social network bought by Elon Musk in 2022: West France announced on Tuesday, November 19, that it would suspend its publications on X, without however ceasing to integrate publications from the platform into its articles.

According to the press release from France’s leading regional press title, this decision was taken due to the recent appointment of Elon Musk within the Trump administration, but also the modification of the granting of “blue pastilles “. The latter certified, before the takeover by Elon Musk, the authenticity of an account. West France also invokes the way in which “the network has changed the blocking conditions, thereby harming user security”, further regretting that it contributes “to the poisoning of public debate, which is nevertheless vital to democracy”.

“For these reasons, and for the defense of the values ​​of our media, attached to democracy, the calming of debate and respect for everyone, the management board and the editor-in-chief have collectively decided to suspend publications on X”explains the press release from West Franceadding that he had already reduced, since October 2023, the number of his publications on this social network where he has 688,000 subscribers.

The Guardian (10.8 million subscribers on public spending in the United States. The Spanish newspaper The Vanguard1.3 million subscribers on X, followed suit the next day. Other titles, such as Sveriges Radio, Swedish public radio, or the American media NPR and PBS, had chosen to distance themselves from the platform and stop publishing there from 2023.