Published Apr 08, 2025 • Last updated 6 minutes ago • 2 minute readHalifax regional councillors voted 16-1 in favour of ending the municipality’s presence on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.HRM has put an X through X. On Tuesday, Halifax regional councillors voted 16-1 in favour of ending the municipality’s presence on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. All active HRM accounts on X will discontinue through a phased approach by July 15 and will transition to the Bluesky platform. Breton Murphy, the municipality’s managing director of corporate communications, said there are eight HRM accounts currently with X. That does not include Halifax Regional Police, Halifax Public Libraries or Halifax Water. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentHRM has used Twitter and X to share updates on municipal topics since 2010. The app has been an important communication tool and is still popular among residents of the municipality. But since controversial billionaire and business leader Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, the app has become “toxic.” Coun. Laura White (Halifax South Downtown) submitted a motion in February requesting city staff to determine the feasibility of ending its activity on X. “The platform has become less congenial, informative and useful, and more toxic,” the motion read. “X is no longer a medium that many reputable organizations are comfortable associating with.” Councillors pointed to Musk’s role in U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. “X has become very politicized,” said Coun. Sam Austin (Dartmouth Centre). “The owner of X is part of a government that means us harm which makes X very different than Facebook or other giants (of social media) out there. This is an opportunity for us to make a symbolic kind of statement.” Article content“The owner of X has stated that Canada isn’t a real country and he’s working with the orange guy down south to literally destroy our economy,” added Coun. Shawn Cleary (Halifax West Armdale). “Why would we support that?” The lone dissenting vote was cast by Coun. David Hendsbee (Lawrencetown-The Lakes-Chezzetcook-Eastern Shore), who was concerned with the number of followers on X as opposed to Bluesky. “I’ve also opened up a Bluesky account, but it doesn’t have the amount of followers as my X account,” Hendsbee said. “If it comes a day that Bluesky passes X, perhaps I’ll retire the X (account) at that time. But in the meantime, I’ll be keeping my own personal X account intact. “I don’t like censorship of any sort, and even though X from time to time may have some revolting opinions on there, I believe that my stuff is not revolting at all. I like to maintain it because it has a broader penetration of the marketplace with the general public.” Murphy said there are about 78,000 followers on the municipality’s main X account and 400,000 across all HRM accounts. He added that a recent online survey asked residents how they would describe their support for HRM leaving X. Article content“Residents are very supportive of moving away from X and are supportive of adopting Bluesky,” Murphy said. Mayor Andy Fillmore was initially concerned about taking the municipality off the platform and how it would affect the ability to inform residents during emergencies. “X is an important means of sharing information,” Fillmore said. “We may not all agree with the owner or a lot of the discourse that occurs on X, but there is a great proportion of our community that relies on X for communication and for information regarding HRM services and public emergencies and so forth.” Fillmore eventually voted in favour of the motion. Article content
Click elsewhere: Halifax council votes for municipality to stop using X
