X-it? Should public broadcasters leave X?

Abstract

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter in 2022, many organizations left the platform now called X. Important reasons to leave were that Musk was using X to shape the political discourse and that the platform deployed more hate speech, fake news, and conspiracy theories. Among the organizations leaving were public broadcasters, like the VPRO and NPR. In this thesis, I address the question: given the political power of its owner and the direction he took with the platform, should public broadcasters leave X? I will argue they should not. Although there are valid reasons to leave X, these do not outweigh the countervailing reasons to stay.

The thesis is structured as follows. I first provide two reasons for why public broadcaster should stay: they have the responsibility to reach as many people as possible and to provide people with high-quality information. Thereafter, I examine and respond to two possible reasons for public broadcasters to leave X: the intertwined political and algorithmic power of Musk with which he influences the political debate, and the rise of hate speech and disinformation on the platform.

Regarding the first reason, I asses how the power of Musk might undermine the independence of public broadcasters. I argue that this does not provide a decisive and valid reason. Regarding the second, I consider three reasons for taking a stand against the direction the platform took under Musk and political Musk’s power. First, it is not impermissible to endorse X partially. Secondly, public broadcasters should not condemn by leaving, because that would undermine their objectivity. Lastly, even if public broadcasters would be enabling X, this would not constitute a reason to leave that weighs heavier than the reasons to stay.

In the last chapter I balance the reasons and argue that the reasons to stay currently outweigh the reasons to leave.