Sources: England and Wales' attorney general tells his office to stop posting on X, a first for the UK government, amid worries about X inciting violence
The GuardianPeter Walker
Context & Ripple Effects
The reported decision follows a sequence of UK scrutiny of X: officials said the platform was working to comply with rules concerning non-consensual sexual images, and Ofcom later said X had committed to stronger protections around illegal hate and terror content.
It also sits in a broader official concern about platforms being used to incite violence. A government office withdrawing its own posting activity would turn that concern from enforcement and engagement into an operational communications choice.
First-order effects
The Attorney General’s office would cease publishing on X, removing an official UK government voice from the service.
X faces a further reputational setback in its relationship with UK public institutions, despite its stated commitments to strengthen user protections.
Second-order effects
Other UK public bodies may reassess whether active use of X is compatible with their safety and public-service responsibilities, especially during periods of heightened risk.
The move increases pressure on X to demonstrate that its moderation and safety commitments are effective in practice, not only in regulatory discussions.
Third-order effects
If more public institutions reduce activity on platforms they judge unsafe, social-media distribution may become less dependable as a channel for official information and public-service communications.
The episode points toward a tighter linkage between platform-safety compliance and institutional access: regulation may increasingly be reinforced by agencies’ choices about where to communicate.
The trend: UK platform governance is moving beyond formal compliance demands toward public institutions using their own distribution decisions to enforce expectations around online safety.
First government department quits X over racism and violence concerns — Concern about the spread of misinformation from right-wing figures prompts Richard Hermer to pull Attorney General's Office off platform
When the final analysis of the Government is written, doing things two years late and then only half heartedly will be a core theme. — observer.co.uk/news/politic...
Exc: First Government department quits Twitter over racism and violence concerns — Richard Hermer sent a directive to staff last week saying the Attorney General's Office would be coming off the platform — observer.co.uk/news/politic...
Attorney General Richard Hermer becomes the first cabinet minister to order his department to leave X over concerns it has become a sewer for racism and the fuelling of far-right violence. Story by @catneilan.bsky.social
#Hermer — #ukpolitics — A small step in the right direction. — And the rest of the government ? — #Labour — #X — UK attorney general tells staff to stop using X amid disinformation concerns — https://www.theguardian.com/ ...