Halifax Regional Council is looking into abandoning X as a way of HRM to communicate with residents.
The motion put forward by Councillor Laura White, Tuesday, stirred up a lengthy conversation among city staff about the popular social media platform.
White said she is seeing X “go downhill” over the years after the change in ownership, watching it become “less informative” and “less useful”.
“The reason for the timing is now, is just the alignment of the owner of this platform with the current government in the U.S., and government that is suggesting we become a state.”
Supporting the motion, was Councillor Sam Austin who said X is no longer the same space that it was when he joined the platform in 2012.
“I think there’s valid concerns from our community regarding that. The clincher for me right now is the owner. A very public owner who’s not just another megalomaniac billionaire but is part and parcel of the presidency down in the states that very much wishes our country ill.”
Austin says leaving X would be a symbolic thing for the municipality to do.
Meanwhile, Councillor Trish Purdy called it a “political move” and did not support it emphasizing that as a municipality they should be “neutral”.
“If the municipality wants to get off any social media platform and use another one, because that’s where they think the most people will be serviced …Hey, no problem with that as long as it’s not a political statement.”
Thirteen councillors voted in favour of a staff report on the matter, where three voted against.
