Millions of Brits drop X as Elon Musk sparks left-wing backlash

Millions of Brits have abandoned Elon Musk’s X since he took over two years ago amid a left-wing backlash against the billionaire.

The number of British adults visiting X’s website or app has fallen from 26.5 million in 2022, when Mr Musk bought the company, to 22.2 million this year, an Ofcom study found.

Figures from the regulator’s annual Online Nation report suggest a growing exodus of British users from the former Twitter.

Prominent left-leaning internet users have quit the service out of frustration over the billionaire’s enthusiastic support of Donald Trump as US president.

Mr. Musk has promoted the Republican to his 200 million followers with hundreds of social media posts this year and formally endorsed his candidacy in July.

He has also become increasingly vocal on political and social issues in the United Kingdom, claiming the country is at risk of “civil war” and branding the country a “tyrannical police state.”

The Guardian left Twitter earlier this month, citing an alleged increase in “disturbing content” and “far-right conspiracy theories and racism” on X. Others who have left include Stephen King, the author, and Greg Davies, the actor.

In addition to publicly supporting Mr. Trump, Mr. Musk has angered some users with a hands-off moderation approach. He has restored thousands of accounts previously suspended for spreading hate speech, including users like Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins.

Mr. Musk’s decisions to increase contributions from verified users who pay a monthly fee and to limit a number of new features to paying subscribers have also been criticized.

Ofcom said: “Although

Matt Navarra, a social media consultant, said: “The redesign and rebranding, including switching from Twitter to X, also played a role.” It broke its cultural currency. Removing this feature left many users unconnected.”

The decline in X usage coincided with an increase in demand for competing services like Reddit and Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads.

On Reddit, the online forum known as the “front page of the internet,” usage increased 47 percent, with 22.9 million adults visiting the site in May this year. In total, over 5.3 million Brits used Threads.

Bluesky, a rival to X, grew rapidly after Mr. Trump’s election. Around 7 million new accounts were added in less than a month. Threads has added 35 million new users worldwide since the beginning of November.

Mr Navarra said: “Competition from platforms like Threads and TikTok has increased – and more recently from Bluesky. “Musk’s highly visible and often controversial political stance has likely angered a large number of British users.”

X remains more popular with men than women, with men making up 63 percent of the site’s UK users.

Ofcom data measures reach – the number of visitors – compared to active account holders. According to data from Similarweb, a digital market intelligence company, the number of daily active users of the X app in the UK fell to 5.2 million in November, compared to 6.9 million a year earlier.

According to Ofcom data, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram were the top three social media services in the UK. TikTok’s visitor numbers increased by 13 percent compared to 2023, reaching 24 million people.

X has been contacted for comment.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, savings and more.