Paris mayor quits Elon Musk-owned X after branding social media site ‘gigantic global sewer’

The Paris Mayor has quit Elon Musk-owned social media site X after branding it a “gigantic global sewer” that is “destroying our democracies” by spreading abuse and misinformation.

“With its thousands of anonymous accounts and its troll farms, life on Twitter is the exact opposite of democratic life,” Anne Hidalgo said in a post titled, “Why I am leaving Twitter.”

“We are dealing here with an utterly clear political project to push aside democracy and its values in favor of powerful private interests,” Ms Hidalgo wrote. “This medium has become a gigantic global sewer, and we should continue to wade into it?”

“I refuse to endorse this evil scheme,” she said.

Ms Hidalgo's office said that she will close her X account - which has 1.5 million followers - at the end of the week. Paris City Hall will keep its own separate account on the platform, they added.

Ms Hidalgo’s withdrawal from X follows a fractious period for the mayor. She has faced criticism from political opponents for expensing a trip in October to the French South Pacific territories of New Caledonia and Tahiti.

She also locked horns last week with government ministers over the French capital’s readiness for the 2024 Summer Games.

Ms Hidalgo said some transport options will not be ready for the Olympics next summer.

Transport Minister Clement Beaune called her comments a “shameful” attempt to divert attention from her Pacific voyage.

X has been embroiled in controversy in recent weeks after watchdog group Media Matters for America said that it had found that corporate advertisements for IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast's Xfinity were being placed alongside antisemitic content.

The analysis prompted a series of major companies - including Disney, Apple and IBM - to suspend their advertising on the platform.