In early 2024, the University of Twente became the first university in the Netherlands to quit X, citing declining relevance and reduced engagement. Maastricht University did not follow suit at the time; as UM spokesperson Augustijn explained to Observant, X was still deemed relevant as a communication tool. However, the university has since changed its position and, like several other Dutch universities, has now left the social media platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk, who has become a close associate of US President Trump. Following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022, he laid off a large number of content moderators – responsible for filtering out fake news, among other tasks – in the name of promoting “free speech”. This move was met with dismay by the European Commission, which has been pushing tech companies to crack down harder on fake news. Augustijn explains that the mass exodus of academics from X has made the platform less attractive for UM. He adds, “We have concerns about how Twitter users are ‘guided’ towards certain posts”, referring to the platform’s “problematic” content moderation practices.
UM is now active on Bluesky. Whether Instagram and Facebook will remain part of the university’s social media strategy is still under review. The same goes for “other platforms we currently use or have yet to explore”.
The Dutch technology news website Tweakers reported in early January that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to end fact-checking on his platforms, “as independent fact-checkers at international news agencies, according to Zuckerberg, are ‘biased’ and contribute to ‘censorship’ on Facebook and Instagram”. Tweakers notes that many of Meta’s recent policy changes align with Trump’s campaign promises, such as lifting restrictions on posts about immigration and gender.