A councillor has urged Falkirk Council not to wait to stop using X (formerly Twitter) after hearing it is likely to do so anyway because of very low engagement compared to other platforms. Labour councillor Siobhan Paterson asked a meeting of Falkirk Council this week to support her call for a report “on the council’s current and future use of X, including safeguarding, engagement, and alternative platforms”. While that report is being prepared, however, she also proposed that corporate use of X be limited to essential communications only due to serious concerns about the social media site. Councillor Paterson said: “We all know that once upon a time Twitter was a useful space for updates with our residents – however, we are all too aware that in recent years the culture of the platform has changed significantly. “With the spread of misinformation and the rise in hostility, the platform is less constructive and less aligned with the standards that we should uphold as a council.” After hearing from council officers that the council will probably shift away from the platform anyway due to a lack of engagement, she asked: “Why wait?” Ms Paterson said: “Last year the billionaire owner of the platform stood with extremists with the aim of disrupting our democracy and encouraging violence on our streets. “Add to that, Twitter’s AI was used to create non-consensual images of women and children.” Twitter was previously widely used by Falkirk Council and all of the area’s schools previously used it to communicate with parents. The councillor said she had campaigned for this to end since being elected and she was delighted that schools no longer use it. She said: “This is not a forum that we want to encourage our children onto. “As a council, we can choose not to participate in a system that promotes harmful content. “We do not rely on Twitter and to continue to communicate with our residents, we can do that on alternative channels that better reflect our values.”…
Twitter was previously widely used by Falkirk Council and all of the area’s schools previously used it to communicate with parents. The councillor said she had campaigned for this to end since being elected and she was delighted that schools no longer use it. She said: “This is not a forum that we want to encourage our children onto. “As a council, we can choose not to participate in a system that promotes harmful content. “We do not rely on Twitter and to continue to communicate with our residents, we can do that on alternative channels that better reflect our values.” Conservative councillor James Bundy said his group supported the motion and added that he would echo the question, ‘why wait?’. “If it’s not got a high engagement rate and its not effective, with all the concerns that have been raised in the motion, why not put our resources where they are more effective?” he said. The SNP leader of the council, Councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, added her support saying: “I don’t feel its a constructive platform for anyone to engage on and have on many occasion been the subject of abuse. “It’s not somewhere we should really be holding debate, so I’m more than happy that we look to move on from that and find for a more conducive method of communicating for our constituents and indeed our communities.”
#FalkirkCouncil likely to stop using X
.. says @scottishlabour.bsky.social Cllr #SiobhanPaterson
supported by @snp.org & @scottories.bsky.social
-> www.falkirkherald.co.uk/news/politic...
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