Dane County departments instructed to stop posting on X by start of 2024
MADISON, Wis. -- Dane County departments will stop posting on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, by the start of 2024 following an order from the county's top leader. In an email sent to all county department heads on Tuesday, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi asked them all to move away from the platform due to "an uptick of hate speech" allowed on the platform. The email instructed each department to phase out use of the platform immediately and stop using it entirely no later than by the start of the new year.
Concerns about hate speech on the platform have grown in intensity over the past year since billionaire Elon Musk bought what was then still called Twitter. In recent weeks, large companies -- including IBM, Walmart, Disney, Apple and more -- have announced they're pulling advertisements from the platform after Musk himself endorsed an antisemitic tweet, which he later apologized for while simultaneously insulting advertisers who chose to leave X.
A version of Parisi's instruction to county departments first popped up on Friday when the account for the Dane County Regional Airport posted that it would no longer be using the platform. "Dane County Regional Airport is logging off of X indefinitely. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or check out our website for future information and updates from the airport," the post reads.
In his email, Parisi went on to say that the availability of other communication methods that can be used to share urgent information meant a presence on X was not as important as it may have been in the past. While Parisi didn't provide suggestions for how departments should alter their public-facing communication, the DCRA's post on X said the airport will share relevant updates on other social media platforms and on its website.
https://www.channel3000.com/news/dane-county-departments-instructed-to-stop-posting-on-x-by-start-of-2024/article_eaf527c2-92cb-11ee-9860-ffd8b38afd8b.html