The question of whether all politicians should leave X has recently marked Irish politics. Mired in controversy, the social media platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk appears to be at war with its identity. From portal into international news to unregulated space for free speech, there have been questions on whether the platform is still fit for purpose.

On Newstalk Daily, the debate was centered on whether X is still a useful space for politicians to liaise with constituents and their respective communities. 

Clare O’Donoghue Velikić of the Digital Consultancy firm ODV Digital argued that the presence of politicians on X was a self-fulfilling prophecy due to peer pressure. 

“Politicians and leaders stay on X because other politicians and leaders are saying on,” she said pointing out the vicious circle of politicians and journalists remaining on the platform because the other is. 

“If someone had the courage to step away from it, explore other channels they could perhaps go back to more traditional ways of engaging with journalists or constituents through civil discourse. 

“If they managed to do so, I believe they’ll find that their ability to engage constituents and connect with important leaders isn’t really impacted that heavily.”

O’Donoghue Velikić made note of the need to distinguish between the X of 2026 and Twitter. 

“[Twitter] really was that space for discourse, for engaging with constituents, for having both lighthearted and serious debates. 

“We have to stop conflating the two. I think X benefits from us confusing the names and still referring to it as Twitter. We have a lot of nostalgia for the legacy platform.”

A person holding a phone open on the X app. Picture by: Alamy.

She noted the increase in verbal attacks against elected representatives and hate speech across online platforms has rendered it unsafe for individuals to engage in the sort of discussions they used to a decade ago. 

“It’s important we draw a line between our nostalgia for the Twitter that used to be but platforms like Bluesky have not taken off the way it has when it comes to new breaking," she told Tara Duggan. 

“User behavior on social media has changed a lot compared to ten years ago,” she added.

She told Newstalk Daily that her concerns with widespread usage of X by individuals and representatives alike stems from ongoing removal of trust and safety policies and the proliferation of bots. 

“The removal of these trust and safety policies allows for the proliferation of hate speech, bullying, and the normalisation of language that would not be tolerable in a civil discourse environment. 

“Since Elon Musk pulled up the ladder on the X API, meaning that journalists and nonprofits can't actually analyse and look at what's really happening in a meaningful way on the X platform. We have to just trust Musk's data.”

Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond made the case that X is still an indispensable platform for him to reach constituents and journalists. 

“If I want  to get a quick spiky comment on an event out quickly and efficiently to journalists, that will lead to an opportunity to push forward an issue, X is still the primary platform I go for,” he told Newstalk Daily. 

“I think  it's a crucial part of my  role as a public representative to engage but I must say the level of abuse on other platforms is getting worse as well.

“I still get people contacting me saying, 'I saw you posted that. Can you give me more information about that?’ So I'm hesitant, to be honest, to remove myself fully.”

He stressed the importance of individual responsibility when choosing to interact on the platform. 

“A lot of it is down to the personal responsibility of the individual, the user,” he told Tara Duggan. 

“You can't 'whip' someone to use the political term on social media. But there certainly would have been various broadcast channels over the years that I wouldn't have gone to.”

Leaving X would not be a matter of bravery for Mr Richmond but a matter of calculation. 

“At this stage, I do get a return from X but I will say, no politician has ever been elected by social media alone. Face-to-face is still the most important thing we can do,” he said. 

Main Image: PA Media.