The list goes on. The Breton daily newspaper West Francethe British The Guardian and Spanish The Vanguard opened the march last November, before being joined by South WestMediapart, The Voice of the North or The New Obs. These are now The World Monday January 20, then Liberation the next day who chose to suspend their activity on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
The first, 11 million subscribers on the platform, justified its decision by “the intensification of activism” Elon Musk, close to Donald Trump, et de “the growing toxicity of exchanges” on this network. The second, in accordance with the vote of the majority of members of his society of journalists (80.4% of voters), estimated that “ collaboration with this platform » was not “more compatible with the values of (their) newspaper” and therefore froze his accounts on the network “so that his name cannot be used by others”, but no longer publishes anything there.
A desertion that greets Sophie Jehel, researcher at the Center for Studies on Media, Technologies and Internationalization, although it includes a “obvious risk of runaway disinformation about X”. “This is an important gesture, it is urgent to stop giving valuable content free of charge to platforms which in no way respect the rule of law, such as the fundamental values and rights, which the European Union defends”asserts the researcher, who believes in a more fragmented and diverse reconstruction of the digital landscape.
A network used mainly by activists, political actors and journalists
His colleague Alexandre Joux, director of the Aix-Marseille journalism school and researcher in information sciences, wants to be reassuring about the impact that the withdrawal of major reliable media will have on the dissemination of information. to the general public. “X is far from being the dominant platform in terms of information use by citizens, he maintains. It is a network which is mainly used by activists, politicians, journalists, because it is organized so that the most recent publications are the most seen and thus allows them to “make the news” by expressing themselves. . » According to figures from the La Croix – Verian – La Poste media trust barometer, published on January 14, only 15% of respondents consider the information available on X to be reliable.
If the wave of mass departures from the platform is therefore unlikely to directly impact citizens, it could nevertheless lead those who inform them to review their working method. “From its creation, Twitter became X was widely used by journalists because the actors posted their statements there, notes Alexandre Joux. It was a centralization tool, which made it possible to take the pulse of social and political life. The dispersion of these players on other platforms risks forcing them to also multiply their monitoring tools. »
Recreating a digital space for information and peaceful debate
Because traditional media are not the only ones to exile themselves to other digital lands: the institutions and actors from whom journalists sometimes find their information are also taking the plunge. On Monday January 20, the Academy of Sciences and the publisher Gallimard announced that they were suspending their activity, joining more than 80 associations including the Human Rights League and Emmaüs. Several political figures, notably within the New Popular Front, have also announced that they will stop publishing on X.
To recreate a digital space of information and peaceful debate, many have moved their public declarations to alternative networks that operate close to that of . “But for it to work, there needs to be a mass effect, and for the majority of users to migrate to these new platforms, describes Alexandre Joux. Hence the debate, for certain media which rely heavily on social networks to ensure the visibility of their productions, whether or not to leave X and therefore to leave their audience behind. »
As for informing citizens – 72% of French people, according to our barometer, say they use social networks to get information – the researcher is more worried about seeing the Meta group (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) fall. in the same failings as “The Meta group’s social networks are much more popular than X was”says Alexandre Joux. And although they were not created to accommodate it, their algorithms primarily favoring engagement and reaction, the information has found a place there. The researcher insists: “If Meta drifts as X did, then it will raise real democratic issues. »