A motion in support of a UK-wide ban of the social media platform X has been backed by the SNP – with party members also calling for the Scottish Government and Holyrood authorities to remove themselves from the site, reports BritPanorama.
SNP members at the party’s annual conference in Aberdeen overwhelmingly passed a resolution stressing the need for “responsible use of social media.”
It insisted the SNP, elected representatives, councils, the Scottish Government and other public bodies, should “not make use of harmful platforms that harbour abusive content.”
Following the debate, an SNP spokesperson confirmed: “As per the motion passed by conference, we will review our use of X and report to the party’s national executive.”
Formerly known as Twitter, X was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk in 2022, and is now owned by SpaceX’s artificial intelligence subsidiary SpaceXAI.
Moving the resolution, SNP member Erin Lux insisted: “There are so many reasons we need to remove ourselves and our services from this platform.”
The party has almost 320,000 followers on X and regularly posts updates, including several from the conference in recent days.
However, Ms Lux claimed that X and its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok “continue to host and produce child sexual abuse material,” stating that X is a “hotbed of mis- and disinformation.”
Adding that research had shown using the platform “shifted views rightwards,” Ms Lux asked delegates: “Why on earth are we continuing to post there?”
She insisted: “It is indefensible we are lending our credibility as a party, and the credibility of our elected officials to a site that has become a hotbed of misinformation and abuse.”
“Do we really want our party messaging appearing alongside nudified images of our fellow politicians? Do we think it is acceptable to force people to log into a site that shares child sexual abuse material to find out if the trains are back on? Is it really in our interests to keep driving traffic towards a right-wing radicalisation machine?”
Adding there was a “growing consensus” in favour of leaving the platform, she told fellow SNP members: “We need to show moral strength and the courage of our convictions and choose to use social media responsibly in a way that aligns with our values.”
Fellow SNP member David Birkett argued against a ban, stating he could “understand why people don’t like” the platform, but the party should remain active on it due to its larger user base compared to rivals.
He noted: “Bluesky has 10.4 million active monthly users, X has 551 million. Bluesky has three million daily active users, X has 251 million. Those numbers speak for themselves.”
Mr Birkett continued: “I also believe in treating party bodies, candidates, and elected members like grown-ups, who can make their own assessment of which platforms they choose to join without some edict.”
He highlighted the role X can play in informing travellers about delays and disruptions to ferries, train services, and road networks.
Mr Birkett stated: “Maybe one day Bluesky and others will have the reach that X does and we can rethink this. But until it does, we should keep the party, the Government, the Parliament, and other public bodies on the platform.”
X has been contacted for comment.
