Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo to quit Musk’s ‘global sewer’ X as city gears up for 2024 Summer Olympics

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, has announced she's quitting the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. She accuses the platform, now owned by Elon Musk, of being a place where false information and hate speech thrive, calling it a 'gigantic global sewer. ' Hidalgo believes that the anonymous accounts and organized groups that spread negativity on X are the complete opposite of a healthy democratic environment. In a detailed post titled 'Why I am leaving Twitter,' she expressed her refusal to support what she calls an 'evil scheme. ' A screenshot of her tweet explaining her departure was shared, highlighting her stance. Hidalgo, who was a candidate for the French presidency in 2022 but did not win, has been active on the platform since 2009 and has accumulated 1. 5 million followers. She criticizes X for allowing misinformation and discriminatory content to spread. When the Associated Press reached out to X for a comment, they received an automated response indicating that the platform was too busy to reply. Hidalgo's office confirmed that her announcement in both French and English would be her last posts on X, and she plans to close her account by the end of the week. However, the Paris City Hall will maintain its presence on the platform. The mayor's decision to leave X comes after a period of controversy, including criticism over her travel expenses to New Caledonia and Tahiti and disputes with government officials about Paris's preparedness for the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics. The Transport Minister, Clement Beaune, accused Hidalgo of trying to distract from her trip with her comments about the city's readiness. Hidalgo's office clarified that her departure from X was a decision made over time and not a direct response to recent criticisms. Since Musk's takeover of X in October 2022, which led to significant changes on the platform, several notable individuals have left, but there hasn't been a widespread departure.