Refugee Action has become the latest charity to quit the social media platform X amid concerns over the way it has been run by its owner, the right wing US billionaire Elon Musk.

Alongside a number of other charities it will instead use the Bluesky social media platform, which has attracted millions of new users in recent weeks and has a greater focus on moderation.

A chief concern has been controversial posts on X, including from Musk himself, that have been accused of fuelling rioting by racists in the UK during the summer.

“We’re done with the unchecked hate, racism, misinformation and conspiracy theories here – all of which are part of the problem,” said Refugee Action as it announced it is leaving X.

“The increasingly racist and dehumanising rhetoric found on this platform only feeds racist violence, riots and policy decisions.”

We will no longer be posting on or using X.

Please find us instead on Bluesky: https://t.co/AHXDqU31Qo, and our other social media platforms.

— Refugee Action (@RefugeeAction) December 5, 2024

Refugee Action added: “We acknowledge that no social media platform is perfect – and there are other platforms where racism and hate still exists.

“But for now, X is no longer a good way to communicate with our community and build our movement.

“We’re ready to open a new chapter of digital communication, where we hope we don’t have to block people from replying to our posts about the people we work with due to the risk of abuse.

“We want to build a movement with people who want to end the hostile environment for refugees. If that’s you, we’ll see you in other spaces.”

Other charities to quit X, which was formerly known as Twitter, for Bluesky include Scotland based Children First.

Last month it said that “we no longer believe that X provides a positive space to achieve our goals to progress children’s rights”.

Charity leaders’ body ACEVO, transgender support charity Mermaids and Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals Charity are among those in the sector to leave X this year.

Charity Times has also set up a Bluesky account to discuss the sector and post links about our articles. Please do follow us here if you have signed up to the platform.

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