Police force steps back from social media site X

Derbyshire Police says it is reducing its use of Elon Musk's social media platform X due to the "quality and quantity of interactions".

The force posted on the site, which was purchased by the US businessman in 2022 and renamed from Twitter, that it would now only be using it to "provide critical updates as a single point of truth when necessary".

It comes after North Wales Police quit the platform last year claiming it was "no longer consistent" with the force's values.

The Guardian also stopped posting on the site in November, saying the benefits of using X were "outweighed by the negatives" including "disturbing content" such as "far-right conspiracy theories and racism".

And on Monday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hit back at Musk's suggestion on X that he was "complicit in the crimes" of child sex offenders.

When asked about the Tesla chief executive's posts about the grooming gangs scandal, Starmer said: "Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they are interested in themselves."

A Derbyshire Police spokesperson said: "As a force we periodically review our social media presence to ensure that we are serving our communities in the best way possible.

"During our latest review it was decided, based on the quality and quantity of interactions with our posts, and the limited amount of reporting via this channel, that we would reduce our usage of this platform.

"We will continue to maintain a presence on X to ensure that, in the event of an emergency or major incident, that we are still able to send out critical messages and ensure that information is able to be communicated from the official Derbyshire Constabulary channel."

The force asked its 125,000 followers on X to use its Facebook or Instagram pages for regular updates.

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