The ruling Freedom Movement (GS) of Slovenia has decided to stop using Twitter, raising concerns that the social media is being used by politicians to spread fake news and hate speech.
"Given the behavior and communications of Twitter's new owner and management, we can expect that they will further open its doors to obscene communications and hate speech," GS stressed in a statement on Saturday, referring to the recent acquisition of the platform by billionaire Elon Musk.
Liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob's GS won parliamentary elections in April on an agenda that promised to restore political decency and strengthen the rule of law, which critics claimed was undermined by conservative former prime minister Janez Yansa.
Yansa, an avid Twitter user with more than 100,000 followers in a country of two million people, had and still does use the social media to attack critics and media outlets, and Golob said he would not use Twitter "to avoid the temptation of quick fingers" - the hasty reactions of many on that social media outlet.
The Freedom Movement - which holds 41 of the 90 seats in parliament - said its Twitter account was blocked for three weeks due to technical issues and, over time, realised it did not need that medium to effectively reach out to citizens.
"At the same time, the platform was abused by members and supporters of certain political parties to polarise society, spread false news, manipulate, defame, insult or even use hate speech," the GS said, adding that it did not wish to be part of it."
Source: APE-MPA
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