Government urged to stop paying for Twitter ads

Government departments and agencies have been considering their advertising spend on X (Twitter) in the wake of concerns about inaccurate and inciting messages about the Dublin riots. Picture: PA 

The Government has been urged to stop advertising with Twitter, now known as X after the social media company allegedly refused to remove “vile” postings in the wake of last month’s Dublin riots.

Several state bodies, including the Departments of Enterprise, Children, and Social Protection and agencies including Teagasc continued to pay to advertise on X in the aftermath of the unrest seen in Dublin on November 23. Twitter was criticised over misinformation posted to the site earlier that day.

The calls come as the Business Post revealed that X boss Elon Musk has instructed staff not to suspend users who post explicitly racist, sexist, or homophobic content, as part of a radical stripping back of the company's moderation of abusive material.

The newspaper said it had obtained confidential documents which showed how X allows “abusive and hateful accounts” to remain on its platform.

Before that report was published, the Irish Examiner asked nearly 30 Government departments and agencies about their advertising spend on X and whether it continued to be an appropriate use of public funds in the wake of inaccurate and inciting messages about the Dublin riots and criticism of owner Elon Musk’s endorsement of antisemitic content which the White House last month described as “hideous”. Musk later dismissed claims of antisemitism.

Several government bodies confirmed that advertising for 2024 was under review “on an ongoing basis”.

The Department of the Taoiseach said that, while it has not paid for adverts on Twitter since the summer of 2022, it will “continue to keep all methods of communication under review” to “maximise” the effectiveness of government communications.

The Department of the Environment, which recently ran six paid advertisements with roughly 3.9m views between them, said it works with a media buying agency “to determine the best mix of media channels to reach the appropriate target audiences”.

Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan said that “State funding of a platform such as Twitter which is now engaged in platforming hate speech, conspiracy theory and quite negative political activity should be questioned”. She branded the social media site, of which she is a member, “a global sewer” including for its effect on global debate.

That call was echoed by People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy — also a prolific user of ‘X’ — who said it “has become a sewer of disinformation”, and “no public money should be given” to Mr Musk.

While politicians of all political parties continue to use the site to promote their messages to the electorate, it has come under increasing pressure for its role in promoting hate speech.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee last month claimed the social media company had declined to engage with gardaí regarding the riots, in contrast with other networks which “were taking down these vile posts as they came up”.

However, X disputed Ms McEntee’s claim, saying it had engaged with Coimisiún na Meán after the riots and the dispute with the gardaí related to a single post.

Most public bodies which had spent money on Twitter advertising in 2023 declined to outline their costs when asked by the Irish Examiner.

However, the Department of Defence said it had spent €9,000 over the calendar year, while the Department of Transport spent just under €6,000 on Twitter in early 2023 to support information campaigns, and said it keeps such advertising “under consistent review in order to maximise effectiveness”.

The largest confirmed spending was by the Department of Social Protection, which has paid €42,320 to Twitter to date in 2023.

Just one body, ESB Networks, which had been advertising on Twitter in the wake of the riots, has since suspended that ongoing campaign and said that “no further advertising on (Twitter) is planned at this time”.