HELHa leaves X

On January 20, 2025, the Haute École Louvain en Hainaut announced its disagreement with the way the social network X (formerly Twitter) has been managed since its acquisition by Elon Musk.

For HELHa, the lack of moderation and recent algorithm settings have encouraged the spread of hateful content as well as the circulation of conspiracy theories and climate change denial.

“In the X ‘For You’ feed, there is more than a 50% increase in so-called toxic content, in other words, the algorithm pushes forward the most insulting and controversial posts,” explains David Chavalarias, researcher at the Centre for Social Mathematics Analysis of the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research). “We receive far-right American content without ever having requested it,” he adds.

Since Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform, false, hateful, and racist statements have spread widely, preventing balanced and constructive debates. The head of X has himself multiplied political statements in favor of far-right parties.

By leaving X, HELHa is making a clear choice in favor of alternatives that respect freedom of expression.

“Twitter was originally a place for political and societal debate. We take a stand against this social network, which now seems to be deliberately manipulated. Staying would mean condoning its excesses. We want to remain consistent with our values of justice, democracy, and respect for human rights,” states Philippe Declercq, President-Director of HELHa. “Our institution will therefore join the Bluesky network.”