Librarians at City Tech have decided to discontinue our use of X as a social media platform because its proprietary algorithm increasingly amplifies hate speech, extreme right rhetoric, and misinformation related to political conspiracies.
As informational professionals and educators committed to protecting speech, we have decided to opt out of algorithmic censorship. Our archive of tweets and X posts are still accessible because we think it prudent to maintain control over the @citytechlibrary handle but we will no longer be actively posting on that platform.
And we’re not alone. Many individuals, organizations, news outlets, and libraries have been saying goodbye and good riddance to X. Algorithmic censorship is both an ethical concern and also a legal conundrum. Extractive media conglomerates weaponize fear and contribute to political polarization and climate collapse through the curation and amplification of perspectives that advance a hyper-capitalist, technocratic agenda. In a number of high profile legislative hearings, lawmakers have upheld Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (created in 1996), which absolves social media platforms like X from liability over user generated content, even as their proprietary platforms, content mediation, and privacy policies directly influence what content surfaces and what is buried.
Other users have left X because the Terms of Services that users must agree to were updated in November, 2024. Many have argued that the new terms compromise people’s privacy since users can no longer opt of having their posts used for training artificial intelligence platforms, including Grok, which is owned by Elon Musk, the owner of X and unelected figurehead of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Learn more about algorithmic censorship and how X’s Terms of Services impact user privacy.
Find us on Bluesky (@citytechlibrary.bsky.social) or on Instagram (@citytechlibrary).
