German Universities, Research Institutes Leave X Platform

Goethe University in Frankfurt, Heidelberg University, RWTH Aachen, and Free University of Berlin are among the German universities leaving the X platform.

Study in Germany: According to media reports, over 60 German universities and research institutes have announced that they will not post content on social media platform X going forward. They are reportedly leaving Elon Musk's platform due to “a lack of compatibility between the platform and the institutions’ core values.”

“Changes to X—from the algorithmic amplification of right-wing populist content to the restriction of organic reach—make further use untenable,” the group said in a joint statement, as reported by Research Professional News.

Goethe University in Frankfurt is also among the universities that have announced their departure from the platform. The university statement says, "Since billionaire Elon Musk purchased the platform in 2022, not only have X’s reach and interaction rate seen a steady decline…the platform’s algorithm has also been manipulated to favour content that corresponds to its owner’s worldview."

German Universities Leaving X Platform: More Details

Some other German universities leaving the X platform include Heidelberg University, RWTH Aachen, and Free University of Berlin. Before German universities, many European research organisations also announced to leave the X platform. Two of these were Paris-Saclay University and the Dutch Research Council.

"Institutions’ departures underscore their commitment to fact-based communication and confirm they are against anti-democratic forces. The values ​​that promote diversity, freedom and science are no longer present on the platform," said the joint statement.

Silke Engel, the spokeswoman for the University of Potsdam said, "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. We said to ourselves that we are a place for fact-based exchange, open discourse and transparency -- that is no longer the case," as reported by aa.com.

While commenting on this, Elon Musk said, “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."

“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.

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