'Conditions for open exchange no longer exist. The door has been opened to hatred, disinformation and manipulation under the cloak of supposed freedom of expression,' statement released by Federal Association of University Communication notes
More than 55 universities and research institutes in Germany announced on Friday that they will no longer post content on Elon Musk's social media platform X, from their official accounts, according to media reports.
"The conditions for an open exchange no longer exist. The door has been opened to hatred, disinformation and manipulation under the cloak of supposed freedom of expression," the public broadcaster RBB cited a statement by the Federal Association of University Communication.
According to Silke Engel, the spokeswoman for the University of Potsdam, there was a decision by her administration earlier in the day to shut down its official account on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, after more than 13 years.
"We have been watching X for a long time and have not been as active there as we once were there for a few months -- because of the political developments," Engel said, adding: "We said to ourselves that we are a place for fact-based exchange, open discourse and transparency -- that is no longer the case."
On Thursday, two major German labor unions, the Unified Service Sector Union (Verdi) and the Education and Science Union (GEW) left X after around 15 years.
Both employee organizations criticized the platform as a “forum for the spread of right-wing extremist positions, hatred and agitation, hostility to democracy and disinformation.”
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the platform's algorithms "give preference to anti-democratic narratives," the labor unions stressed.
The latest developments come in the wake of strong criticism within Germany's political establishment against Musk for meddling in the Feb. 23 general elections.
The US tech billionaire who is set to serve as an advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump, reiterated on Thursday his strong support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of the elections.
“If you are unhappy with the situation, you must vote for change. And that is why I'm really strongly recommending that people vote for AfD. That's why that's my strong recommendation. And I think this is simply the sensible move,” Musk said in an online talk on X with AfD leader Alice Weidel.
“In fact, I, as I've said publicly, I think only AfD can save Germany. And I just want to be very clear about that: Only AfD can save Germany, end of story. And people really need to get behind the AfD, otherwise things gonna get very, very much worse in Germany,” he added.
Last week, the German government openly accused Musk of attempting to influence the country's election campaign by showing his support for AfD.
While he is free to express his opinion, “in fact, Elon Musk is trying to influence the federal election through his statements,” deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said at a press briefing in Berlin.
Elections are decided by the voters when they vote and are a German matter, she stressed.
