Halifax council votes overwhelmingly to discontinue using X platform

Halifax regional councillors voted nearly unanimously on Tuesday to stop using the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X by July 15 and eventually transition to Bluesky Social.

The 16-1 vote comes after a staff report highlighted concerns about the platform formerly known as Twitter and following debate on its effectiveness as a communication tool. The move applies only to the eight accounts overseen by corporate communications staff on behalf of the municipality. 

"Let's not overstate the value of X, it wasn't so long ago the RCMP were under so much criticism around Portapique for just relying on X, so this is not our only information source and it shouldn't be," said Coun. Sam Austin, referring to the communication failures related to the 2020 mass shooting.

Austin, who no longer uses his personal X account, said the platform has become too politicized. He said Musk, the unelected billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who was appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump to run the recently created Department of Government Efficiency, is "part of a government that means us harm very openly."

Trump has talked about annexing Canada as the U.S.'s 51st state and started a trade war by imposing tariffs on some Canadian goods. Musk has also been accused of giving two Nazi salutes during the presidential inauguration in January. 

Coun. Jean St-Amand said X is subject to algorithms and is "no more or less effective than any other social media platform that is subject to the commercial whims that drive the audience engagement."

St-Amand also pointed out that people need to sign up for an X account in order to gather information from it, limiting its usefulness as a mass communication tool.

Coun. David Hendsbee was the only councillor to vote against the motion.

"I don't like censorship of any sort and even though X from time to time may have some revolting opinions on there … I believe that my stuff I like to post is not revolting at all and I like to maintain the use of it because it has a broader penetration of the marketplace, I guess you could say, with the general public," Hendsbee said.

Coun. Shawn Cleary disagreed with Hendsbee.

"You choose which medium you want to express yourself in. If you're saying we have to be on X, then we should also be advertising in the National Enquirer and we should be running stuff on Rebel News and we should be on Truth Social. Like that just doesn't make any sense at all," Cleary said.

"The owner of X has stated that Canada isn't a real country and is working with the orange guy down south to literally destroy our economy. Why? How would we support that?"

Municipal staff determined Bluesky, the social media platform Halifax will eventually move to, is "the most viable alternative to X" given its "growing adoption rate and a function design that is tailored for users seeking access to time-sensitive information."

"Also, Bluesky's user-driven moderation system, along with a commitment to open communication and enhanced user experience, aligns with the organization's values as well as the principles guiding its community engagement," said a staff report.