The Guardian newspaper quits Elon Musk's X, calling it 'toxic media platform'

British daily newspaper The Guardian said on Wednesday it would no longer be posting content on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The newspaper posted a statement on its website explaining the decision.

"We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere," the statement began.

'X is a toxic media platform'

The Guardian said it has become increasingly concerned regarding the "disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism."

According to the media outlet based in London, this has been ramped up further in recent months, as X owner Elon Musk pushed for a return to the White House for Donald Trump.

"The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse."

The Trump-Musk relationship

Trump won the US presidential election last week and will be inaugurated in January.

In July, the former president survived an assassination attempt at an election rally in Pennsylvania, prompting Musk to declare his support.

Since then the billionaire owner of X has used the platform to criticize the Democratic Party, while also promoting the ideals of the Trump campaign.

During a live "X Space" conversation between the pair in August, Trump was given free rein to share his rhetoric, which Musk never challenged, even the former president's skepticism regarding climate change.

During the "chat" Musk said it was wrong to "vilify" the oil and gas industry, the key driver of planet-heating pollution, despite previously wanting to move from a mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy towards a solar electric economy, as part of his plan to build the electric car empire, Tesla.

On Tuesday, Trump announced that Musk would be a part of his administration.

Diminishing returns

Social media users will still be able to share articles on X from The Guardian. The newspaper also said that it would still "occasionally embed content from X within our article pages."

But The Guardian said while social media "can be an important tool for news organizations and help us to reach new audiences, X now plays a diminished role in promoting our work."

In 2022, Musk purchased what was then known as Twitter for $44 billion. He promptly changed the platform's name to X.

The British newspaper has 10.8 million followers on X and was posting content there just four hours before making the announcement. The account now says it has been "archived."

Neither X nor Musk have so far responded.