The SPD politician Simona Koß, who represents Märkisch-Oderland and southern Barnim in the Bundestag, is saying goodbye to the social network.
17 August 2024 at 06:00Bernau
An article by
Tilman Trebs
Simona Koß (SPD), member of the Bundestag, has her constituency in Märkisch-Oderland and Niederbarnim. She has had enough of Tesla boss Elon Musk.
Tilman Trebs
Hardly any politician can get by without social networks these days. There is no other place where political messages can be spread more quickly than there. If the media then picks up on it and turns it into a headline, all the better.
The short message service Twitter, which is now called X, is considered one of the most important channels. Almost all federal politicians who want to be heard, read and quoted by the capital’s journalists are represented there.
Simona Koß speaks of “disinformation and propaganda”
Simona Koß, a member of the SPD Bundestag whose constituency is in Märkisch-Oderland and Niederbarnim, is now saying goodbye to the social network. She will delete her account on X in the next few days, she announced in a press release at the end of this week.
“The reason for this is the increasing spread of disinformation and hateful propaganda as well as recent statements by Elon Musk,” explains the politician, who lives in Prötzel. She described these as dangerous for social cohesion and public safety.
Platform operators should take responsibility
Simona Koß particularly criticizes Musk’s prediction of an “inevitable civil war” after racist riots in England and his support of anti-Semitic statements. “These statements are irresponsible and endanger social peace,” emphasizes Koß. She demands that operators of online platforms must exercise their power responsibly.
The SPD stopped actively using X at the beginning of the year. Koß appeals to social media users to critically question which platforms they support.
More hate and fake news since Elon Musk took over
Tesla founder Elon Musk, who also owns the Tesla factory in Grünheide, bought the then short message service Twitter for 44 billion US dollars. Since the takeover, the spread of false reports, conspiracy theories and hate speech on the platform has increased significantly. Musk had accounts that had previously been removed for violating rules reactivated. A prominent example is US presidential candidate Donald Trump, who is now allowed to use X again. The content distributed is hardly monitored anymore. Musk himself uses the platform to share crude theories and fake news. The electric car pioneer is now one of Trump’s supporters in the presidential election campaign.
Simona Koß apparently only used Twitter and later X sporadically. Her last posts date from March 20th of this year. At that time she reported on the emergency services meeting in Märkisch-Oderland on X, and in January she condemned the destruction of the memorial oak tree in the Jewish cemetery in Biesenthal on X. With 682 followers, the Brandenburg politician’s audience is also rather small. Her posts usually only reached a low, three-digit reach.
Simona Koß on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Threads
The Bundestag member will continue to stay in touch with citizens via other channels such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads and her newsletter. An overview is available at to find.
