City of Dortmund makes important decision: Elon Musk is the reason

RUHR24 City of Dortmund makes important decision: Elon Musk is the reason Malte Hupach • 16 hours • 2 minutes reading time The city of Dortmund is sharply criticizing Elon Musk. Elon Musk is causing irritation in Dortmund. The city wants to act immediately. Dortmund - The city of Dortmund should end its presence on the social media platform X with immediate effect, demand the Greens, SPD and Left+ factions in a joint application to the city administration, which RUHR24 has received. The digital committee has approved this plan. The city council will make a final decision at its meeting on Thursday (February 13). City of Dortmund makes important decision: Elon Musk is the reason With this step, Dortmund would join a growing number of institutions that have stopped their activities on X due to "worrying" developments. These already include 60 German universities and unions such as ver.di. Katrin Lögering, spokesperson for the Greens in the Dortmund council, justified the decision with the problematic development of the platform: "We are watching with concern how X is developing into a place where democratic values ​​are increasingly undermined and disinformation is spread unfiltered without moderation." This does not fit with a city that is committed to respect, diversity and the protection of democratic principles. Elon Musk causes irritation in Dortmund: City should leave X immediately Especially in times when targeted misinformation threatens democratic opinion-forming, it is crucial that public institutions are no longer active on platforms that promote these developments. "That is why it is important to us that Dortmund sets a good example here and sends a strong signal for transparency and truthfulness," said Lögering. A specific reason for the decision was a recent conversation on X in which platform boss Elon Musk is said to have allowed and encouraged historical facts to be "distorted and extremist ideas left uncommented." This increased criticism of the platform and ultimately led to the decision to end Dortmund's digital presence on X. With this step, the city wanted to send a clear signal for democratic values ​​and against the spread of fake news and extremist propaganda (read more political news from Dortmund at RUHR24). City of Dortmund should critically monitor social media platforms used The Dortmund Greens emphasize that it is fundamentally important to regularly review the city's digital communication strategy. The administration has a special responsibility for informing citizens objectively and factually via official channels. "Against this background, the development of other social media platforms used by the city and their algorithms should also be critically monitored in the future," it concludes.