South Lanarkshire Council Twitter use restricted over 'harmful content'

South Lanarkshire Council has announced it will reduce its use of X, formerly Twitter, over concerns about “harmful and extreme” content.

A motion was put forward to the full council by councillor Mark McGeever, and seconded by Liberal Democrat colleague Robert Brown, voicing concern about “abusive or false material”.

As a result, South Lanarkshire Council will now only use X for emergency alerts and other urgent information.

Councillor McGeever told Wednesday’s full council: “Twitter was never perfect and served the greater good but sadly now as X that can’t be said to be the case now.

South Lanarkshire Council will now only use X for emergency alerts and other urgent information. Read more in the Viewhttps://t.co/iVb6BGlol0 pic.twitter.com/llHPVzA82E
— South Lanarkshire Council (@SouthLanCouncil) February 19, 2025

“Organisations at home and abroad are increasingly reviewing their use of X with the current reality.

“They have to weigh the needs and value of getting their messages across against the fact that their messages will likely mean they appear alongside totally unregulated content which increasingly includes hateful, extremist and even criminal content.”

It was agreed that the council would continue to use the platform for the time being, but only for the sharing of alerts that provide information that local residents need to know immediately, such as school or road closures, extreme weather events or other issues that impact on council services.

This was in recognition of the fact that more than 59,000 people currently follow the South Lanarkshire Council main X account and rely on the platform, at least in part, for their information.

However, following a motion from the Liberal Democrat group amended by the SNP group, a majority of the council voted to immediately cease the use of X as a platform for non-urgent, general engagement with the public, and to aspire to complete withdrawal from the platform.

Councillors instructed officers to encourage all schools and other council-associated X users to follow the council’s lead, including setting up accounts on Bluesky using that social media platform’s self-verification mechanisms.

South Lanarkshire Council will continue general engagement with residents and others through www.southlanarkshireview.scot, Facebook and Bluesky, while undertaking a review of the council’s use and potential use of all social media platforms.