Dutch public broadcaster NOS quits X over disinformation

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Dutch public broadcaster NOS on Tuesday said it had stopped posting on Elon Musk's social media platform X, as it said it did not want to facilitate the spreading of disinformation.

"The platform no longer fits our vision on how we want to present news on social media," the state-funded news organisation said.

"The amount of hateful responses and disinformation on X is large and unrestricted. Also under our own messages, making us unintentionally help spread them."

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The NOS' main X account has 2.4 million followers.

The broadcaster said it would continue its presence on other platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp.

Since Musk bought the platform in 2022, critics say his hands-off approach to content moderation has allowed lies and hate speech to spread. Musk has said he is defending freedom of speech.

Despite the criticism of X, few media companies have stopped using the platform altogether.

A year ago, British newspaper the Guardian left X, citing "disturbing content", including racism and conspiracy theories.

U.S. National Public Radio stopped posting on what was then still called Twitter in April 2023.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Alex Richardson)