Stuff Group withdraws from X (formerly Twitter)

Friday, 13 October 2023

All Stuff brands including stuff.co.nz, and Publishing Mastheads brands The Post, The Press and Waikato Times will no longer post on X.

Stuff, New Zealand’s biggest independently owned news business, will stop sharing content to X (formerly Twitter), effective immediately.

The company, which owns this website, has flagged it is increasingly concerned about the volume of mis- and disinformation being shared, and the damaging behaviour being exhibited on and enabled by the platform.

All Stuff brands including stuff.co.nz, and Publishing Mastheads brands The Post, The Press and Waikato Times will no longer post on X, except stories that are of urgent public interest - such as health and safety emergencies.

Stuff will also publish these stories on Neighbourly, to reach communities fast and with hyper-local information.

A partially completed 'X' sign rests atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco.

Stuff CEO Laura Maxwell said: “When Stuff returned to New Zealand ownership in 2020, we set growth in public trust as our key measure of success. Three years on, our mission is to grow our business through trusted storytelling and experiences that make Aotearoa New Zealand a better place.

“As a business we have made the decision that X, formerly known as Twitter, does not contribute to our mission. We are increasingly concerned about the volume of mis- and dis-information being shared on the platform, and the damaging behaviours we have observed, and experienced.

“So, as of today, we will stop sharing our content on X. An exception to this will be stories that are of urgent public interest, such as health and safety emergencies. We will also publish these stories on Neighbourly.”

In July 2020, Stuff paused posting activity on Facebook.

The move followed the decision to stop paid advertising on Facebook in 2019, following the live-streaming and widespread dissemination of footage of the Christchurch mosque shootings on the platform.

Twitter, formerly X, has been plagued by misinformation for some time - with false claims about Covid-19, the Covid-19 vaccine and the 2020 US election gaining significant amplification.

Billionaire Elon Musk purchased the platform last year and enabled a number of significant changes to how the site operates, including cuts in moderation and replacing verified accounts with paid subscriptions.

Editor’s note: We’re increasingly concerned by the misinformation and bad behaviour happening over on X (Twitter). So we’ve left that cesspit to focus on stories and connections that make things better for Kiwis. If you can relate to that mission, please contribute to Stuff today.