AMSTERDAM (Reuters) โ The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Monday it would no longer post on X and would use rival Bluesky instead, becoming the latest organisation to quit a social media platform that some have criticised for its content.
โEMA will no longer post updates and content on X. We believe the X platform no longer suits our communication needs,โ the agency said in a statement.
โAfter careful consideration, the Agency has decided to open an account on Bluesky.โ
EMA spokespeople could not immediately be reached for further comment. A request for comment has been made to X.
EMAโs move follows other organisations that have left or pared back activity on X due to concerns about the platformโs content, including the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate, Germanyโs foreign and defence ministries, British news publisher the Guardian, and several UK universities.
It comes at a time Xโs billionaire owner Elon Musk is ramping up his political campaigning in Europe, most recently by urging Germans to vote for a far-right party.
Musk helped Donald Trump win last yearโs U.S. presidential election but his platform was criticised by disinformation experts for enabling the spread of falsehoods during the campaign. Musk says he wants X to champion free speech.
Since Trumpโs election victory, Bluesky has added millions of users. But it remains far smaller than its rivals.
EMA is a decentralised agency of the EU, responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
It was regularly the centre of attention during the COVID pandemic, as it decided on the use of vaccines in the European Union.
The European Commission and other EU institutions are still active on X. The European Central Bank earlier this month joined Bluesky, but did not quit X.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Mark Potter)
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