UK Government agencies will not be moving to Bluesky (soon)
As X loses users at an increasingly rapid rate, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out joining one of the fastest growing alternatives.
Speaking at last week’s G20 summit in Brazil, the British leader confirmed that, for the time being at least, his government was ‘still using Twitter’ and there were no plans to join the legions of social media users making the jump to rival platform Bluesky. He also revealed that some departments are now allowed to use TikTok in certain circumstances.
‘What’s important for a government is that we’re able to reach as many people and communicate with as many people as possible and that’s the sole test for any of this as far as I’m concerned,’ Starmer continued.
The announcement comes as the Bluesky social network is fast becoming the platform of choice for millions of X, formerly Twitter, users who are abandoning the Elon Musk-owned network due to a perceived rise in far right, extremist and hate speech, and its support of the new US President Elect, Donald Trump.
At the time of writing, it’s estimated Bluesky is adding 1million new account per day, with the user base now including senior politicians such as permanent secretaries. The social network was founded by Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former chief executive of Twitter.
In related news, Musk has been appointed co-chair of Washington’s new Department of Government Efficiency. The proposed commission will target bureaucracy, ‘excess’ regulation and expenditure, with thousands of US public sector jobs on the line if plans go ahead.
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Image: Nick Kane via Unsplash
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