Twitter train has left the station

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"Discrimination has no place at Wiener Linien, we stand for diversity and respect," says the company's website. Now words are followed by deeds - and a farewell to X!

(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)

Attention, terminus! Wiener Linien will no longer be using X, formerly Twitter. The reason: "uncontrolled hate speech" is not compatible with the values of the Viennese transport company.

The company's account, which has existed since 2010 and is relatively irregularly updated, had 75,148 followers. Vienna's Mayor Michael Ludwig and Head of State Alexander Van der Bellen were also "fans".

"Public transport content emotionalizes and polarizes"
In an official statement from Wiener Linien to krone.at, it says: "Twitter/X has continued to change for the worse in recent months. Bot farms are manipulating interactions on the platform, hate speech is increasing, fake news is being spread unhindered - and those responsible for Twitter are taking little or no action against it. Our public content is emotionalizing and polarizing. Constructive discussions are hardly possible for us on this platform anymore."

"There are better alternatives than X"
After Wiener Linien decided to close its account on the platform on Monday morning, the latest information on travel operations is now only available via the app or on the internet. "While Twitter/X was initially a good way for us to quickly inform our passengers about restrictions, we were able to create better alternatives with the WienMobil app and the operating information on our website," said the public transport company's press office.

X has been criticized for months for not taking sufficient action against hate speech, agitation, discrimination and bots. "Values" that are not compatible with those of the company.

No room for discrimination
For the whole month of June, for example, the slogan "We Ride With Pride" dominated posters and advertisements as a sign of solidarity with the LGBTIQ+ community (English abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and other gender identities, note) to clearly signal to everyone: "Discrimination has no place at Wiener Linien, we stand for diversity and respect."

New EU law aims to curb hate speech
Online platforms have recently been obliged by a new EU law on digital services (DSA) to take strict action against illegal content such as hate speech and incitement to hatred online.

The owner of the platform, Elon Musk, has always emphasized that he wants to remove what he considers to be excessive restrictions on freedom of expression on the platform.