One researchers says it is a mistake for the City of Ottawa to continue using X, pointing to the toxicity that has thrived on the social media platform owned by Elon Musk.
A motion from Orléans West-Innes Coun. Laura Dudas failed to pass at the city’s Finance and Corporate Services Committee recently, meaning the city will stay active on the platform.
Sandra Robinson, a communications professor at Carleton University who researches social platforms with a focus on hate speech, said that, although she understands the city wanting to maximize outreach, there are concerns about being on X.
“If a platform is taken over by particular kinds of extremist ideas, when you are present on that platform, there is a signal,” Robinson said. “[A signal that] you might support some of those extreme views.”
Robinson added that on a platform like X, the city does not control how its own posts will circulate.
“On X, there is a large proportion of users now who are themselves prone to more extremist views that may respond in ways that are inappropriate,” she said.
Scott Matthews, the head of the political science department at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, who has spoken to the CBC about a similar debate in that province, said he understands that the city has a difficult choice, although he thinks it’s important for the government to think about this.
“I think people who would like us right now to pull the plug on maybe any association with the Trump administration because of the tariffs, seeing Musk as a part of that,” he said.
Matthews said that the early days of government communication through social media were about being on as many platforms as possible. He said the situation is different now.
“Governments are faced with making choices on whether it’s actually a good idea to be on all these platforms,” Matthews said.
Other Canadian cities (plus the Supreme Court of Canada) have left the platform. When Calgary’s social media team was asked about their choice, they told Capital Current in a statement:
“The City’s primary account has turned off comments and will no longer advertise on the platform. … The City will continue to maintain the account for organic posts and communications during emergency activations to help keep Calgarians informed. The City will continue to monitor our primary and secondary accounts on X along with other social media channels to determine viability and effectiveness.”
Matthews wonders what constituency will be left on X.
“And I guess the question is, is X becoming basically like Truth Social and not a place for the general public, but for a particular very conservative public,” Matthews said.
X is not the spot
Robinson said the nature of X’s current environment makes it a problem that the City of Ottawa has elected to stay on it.
“It has been publicly proclaimed by the owner of X by Elon Musk that it is a free absolutist space,” she said.
Robinson explained that the absolutist idea, unlike free speech, allows hate speech to spread by enabling users to target identifiable groups with harmful content and misinformation.
“There are no regulations that should stop them from doing that,” Robinson said.
Five members of council voted in support of moving off X, seven voted to stay for now. One of the reasons for staying included the use of the platform and the possible limit to public access to information.
“I don’t support a lot of what I see on [X] either, but I will certainly defend people’s right to become members of [X], to use it or not to use it,” said River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington during the meeting. “I think we do all have concerns with the type of content that is on [X] … but what is our role here?”
Robinson said she understands why they might want to remain on the platform, however X may grow more problematic.
“Governments need to be on several platforms, but if X becomes completely intolerable, which I would argue it is … I think it’s only going to grow more problematic,” she said.
Matthews said he understood the choice may be difficult, trading off wide reach for moving off the platform.
“You know X has the advantage of being the first and so they’re already there. It’s hard to coordinate … [many] individuals to do something,” he said. “I just don’t think that there’s a clear alternative yet for the public as a whole.”
Is Bluesky the solution?
Matthews said he isn’t convinced Bluesky is the solution.
“The reach isn’t there just yet,” he said. “I think until some really clear alternative emerges I there’s a certain inevitability that there will be people who miss out.”
Robinson said the city could operate in “parallel” on both platforms.
“They could make some public statements about moving to Bluesky within the next 12 months,” Robinson said.
During the meeting, Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney said he had issues with the potential of Bluesky also becoming problematic.
“I want to make sure the new platform is going to be successful. I hope it is, but it also comes with its pitfalls. The exact same trolls have moved from one platform to another,” Tierney said.
Robinson said Bluesky is trying to be different in their content moderation.
“They’re trying to use community moderation to keep that to a minimum.”
She said that the platform seems to be experimenting with what’s allowed on the platform.
“They also enable people who express themselves in ways that are sometimes more overtly sexual,” she said.
But Robinson says that the current threats against Canada by Trump and Musk should be the a key consideration
“I do think at this particular moment, if you were ever going to quit X, this would be the moment to do it.”
