A major union of European journalists has threatened to leave Elon Musk’s X next year, on the date President-elect Donald J. Trump assumes office. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), representing over 320,000 members, has declared its intention to cease publishing on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) beginning January 20, 2025.
The EFJ has joined other media groups, including The Guardian and the German Journalists Association, in leaving the platform.
The organization’s president, Maja Sever, claimed that X now serves as a medium for spreading conspiracy theories, racism, and far-right rhetoric, alleging it benefits Musk’s ideological and financial interests.
Despite these departures, no significant U.S.-based media groups have announced similar actions, though individual journalists have chosen to leave the platform.
X and Elon Musk have also been criticized by European politicians, particularly those in the European Union (EU). Last year, the EU launched pro-censorship action against Musk and X under the Digital Services Act (DSA), alleging X was not compliant in countering illegal content and disinformation.
Musk later revealed that the European Commission, the unelected executive branch of the EU, had offered him a secret deal to quietly censor posts on X. He also claimed other social media platforms had accepted this “illegal” deal.
At one point, former European Commissioner Thierry Breton even directly threatened Musk prior to an interview he conducted with President-elect Donald J. Trump, calling on Musk to censor the interview.
Some X users expressed surprise that, given the quality and similarity of their work, there are as many as 320,000 journalists in Europe. Musk characterized them as “320,000 NPCs.”
