Culture secretary Lisa Nandy and her department quit X, blaming a platform that 'favours abuse and misinformation'

The announcement

Lisa Nandy, the UK's culture secretary, posted on X on Thursday saying she and her department would leave the platform. She wrote that a platform originally designed for free speech now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate, adding it 'isn't healthy for our democracy or our communities'. Nandy said she would remain active on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport becomes the second UK government department to stop using X, after the Attorney General's Office withdrew last month.

I've decided to leave this platform and my department will too. A platform originally designed for free speech and expression now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate. It isn't healthy for our democracy or our communities and I don't want to support it.

A series of departures

Nandy's exit is the highest-profile government departure from X so far. The attorney general, Lord Richard Hermer, told MPs in June that he had ordered his office to stop posting on the platform, which he said 'constantly descends to racism and misogyny'. Earlier, several Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs, police forces, the Royal College of Surgeons and Southampton city council had also left. The Guardian newspaper quit X in November 2024.

For the work that I can do, I can engage with people in serious debate, detailed debate, respectful debate, without being on a platform that constantly descends to racism and misogyny.

Regulatory pressure and the role of AI

The departures come as X faces growing regulatory scrutiny. The media watchdog Ofcom opened an investigation into X in January over concerns that its Grok AI chatbot was being used to create and share illegal nonconsensual intimate images, including content involving minors. Labour MP Jess Asato sued xAI in June, alleging Grok had been used to create fake sexualised images of her. Prime Minister Keir Starmer described some of the images as 'disgusting' and 'unlawful', and last month unveiled a social media ban for under-16s.

Starmer, Musk and the aftermath of violence

Starmer accused Elon Musk of trying to 'whip up division' after the murder of 18-year-old student Henry Nowak. Musk posted over 100 times on X about the case in a single week. Racist rioting later broke out in Belfast after a stabbing, and disorder was also reported in Southampton. Far-right activist Tommy Robinson and Musk were named among those whose online posts amplified calls for street action. The Guardian reported that Hermer's decision to leave X was prompted in part by the platform's role in stoking those disturbances.

Political timing and what comes next

Nandy is an ally of Andy Burnham, who is expected to take over as prime minister later this month. Burnham remains a prolific user of X, and his replies and videos have become a central part of his public outreach. It is possible a new culture secretary could reverse Nandy's decision, though the symbolic weight of a cabinet minister walking away from what was once a core government communication channel is considerable. One official told the Financial Times that most departments were already shifting attention to Instagram, Reddit, Facebook and TikTok.

It is very, very difficult when you have the people or the person who owns that platform talking up potential terrible stuff on the streets of our country and then for government departments to remain on it.