Bundeswehr rejects social network X

The German Federal Ministry of Defense will no longer post on the social network X, owned by American billionaire Elon Musk.

The defense ministry announced this on its website, as reported by Ukrinform.

«The Ministry of Defense will suspend the operation of the MO channel on the «X» platform from January 15, 2025 and will no longer place proactive publications on the channel for the foreseeable future», the department informed.

In addition, the X-channels of the Bundeswehr Inspector General, subordinate services such as inspectors and commanders, as well as the central X-channel of the Armed Forces will also be suspended in the future.

The main reason for the decision is that, according to the Ministry of Defense, «the actual exchange of arguments is becoming increasingly difficult».

In the future, the Federal Ministry of Defense will alternatively use the WhatsApp channel to inform, for example, about relevant ministerial appointments and decisions, as well as about ministry news.

The department also added that a single channel on social media cannot meet all of the ministry's communication requirements. In order to ensure transparent and broad communication in the business sector, various forms of communication and distribution channels will continue to be selected in the future, including the ministry's Instagram channel, press releases and statements by the minister and the MoD website.

The Federal Ministry of Defense reserves the right to respond to «X» posts in exceptional cases – for example, in the case of disinformation campaigns.

The Ministry of Defense became the first federal government department to decide to «ignore» internet platform after the statements of its owner Ilon Musk.

As reported, the federal government and the chancellor are still using this network to convey their position to as many people as possible.

As a reminder, Musk has recently been sharply critical of the German authorities and openly called for voting in the February 23 elections for the far-right «Alternative for Germany», which the government called an attempt to influence the election campaign.