Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy announced that she and her department will be exiting Elon Musk’s X platform.
Explaining her decision in what appears to be her final post on Xexternal, Nandy said the platform “isn’t healthy for our democracy or our communities, and I don’t wish to support it.”
“A platform originally intended for free speech and expression now prioritises abuse and misinformation over substantive dialogue,” she wrote.
Responding on Xexternal, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said, “DCMS [the Department for Culture, Media and Sport] is meant to confront and address misinformation, not retreat because it becomes overwhelming.”
On Friday, Downing Street indicated it would maintain its presence on X.
A spokesperson for No 10 said the government keeps its social‑media use “under review” and that individual ministers and their departments decide whether to remain on the platform.
DCMS is the second government department to abandon X, following the Attorney General’s office. Earlier this year, several MPs also quit the platform after reports that its AI tool was being used to generate sexualised imagery.
Nandy said she will remain active on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Attorney General Lord Hermer defended his decision last month to prohibit his office from posting on X, telling MPs that the platform “constantly deteriorates into racism and misogyny” and that his department “can do better.”
“I understand why other departments feel they need to engage with the public on the platform, but that is not the appropriate venue for the Attorney General’s office,” Lord Hermer told the Justice Committee in June.
“For the work I can do, I can engage with people in serious, detailed, and respectful debate without needing to be on a platform that continually deteriorates into racism and misogyny.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accused Musk of using his platform to “stir division” in the UK following the murder of student Henry Nowak last month.
Violent protests erupted in Southampton after body‑cam footage showed police handcuffing 18‑year‑old Nowak as he lay dying. His killer, Vickrum Digwa, claimed he had been the victim of a racist attack.
The footage of Nowak’s final moments sparked a wave of political reaction across the UK, and X owner Elon Musk criticised the police’s handling of the teenager.
Several MPs — including Liberal Democrats Layla Moran and Vikki Slade, and Labour’s Darren Paffey — quit the platform after reports that the Grok AI tool was being used to generate sexualised images, including those of children.
X has previously stated: “Anyone who uses or prompts Grok to create illegal content will face the same consequences as if they had uploaded illegal content.”
