Police force steps away from X over ‘quality and quantity of interactions’
A police force has said it will reduce its presence on the social media platform X because of the “quality and quantity of interactions” on the site.
Derbyshire Constabulary posted on Elon Musk’s platform to say it will only use its account to “provide critical updates as a single point of truth when necessary”.
While the force has 125,000 followers, it said its communities “are no longer on X”.
It comes after North Wales Police quit X last year after claiming it was “no longer consistent” with the force’s values.
The Guardian newspaper stopped posting on the site in November, saying the benefits of posting on X were “outweighed by the negatives” including “disturbing content” such as “far-right conspiracy theories and racism”.
Read more: Could Bluesky spark the end of Musk’s X?
A spokesperson for Derbyshire Constabulary 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 X followers to instead follow it on Facebook or Instagram for updates.
Read more from Sky News:
Golden Globes winners revealed
Motorbike-sized tuna sold at auction for more than £1m
Pitfalls to avoid in January sale holiday search
It comes amid a social media row between Elon Musk and British politicians over the decision not to hold a national inquiry into historical child grooming in Oldham.
Mr Musk called for Sir Keir Starmer to be jailed because he was chief prosecutor during the grooming gangs scandal, while Sir Keir accused people of “spreading lies and misinformation” after Mr Musk weighed in on the issue on X.
