UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy Quits X, DCMS to Follow
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- Lisa Nandy, the U.K.'s Culture Secretary, said Thursday she is leaving X and that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will follow, posting that the platform 'now favors abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate' and isn't 'healthy for our democracy.'
- DCMS becomes the second U.K. government department to exit X, following the Attorney General's Office, which pulled out last month after telling MPs the platform 'constantly descends to racism and misogyny.'
- Nandy will remain active on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and is one of the most senior members of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government to leave the platform.
- Ofcom opened a formal investigation into X on Jan. 12 after reports that the Grok chatbot generated and circulated illegal, nonconsensual intimate images; the case remains open, with X claiming it introduced new safeguards but no findings issued.
- Ofcom has the power to fine X up to £18 million ($24 million) or 10% of worldwide revenue, whichever is greater, and parallel probes are running at the Information Commissioner's Office and the European Commission.
- Nandy's departure adds to a string of institutional exits since Elon Musk's 2022 takeover, including The Guardian, NPR, and the European Federation of Journalists, which represents more than 320,000 journalists worldwide.
Why it matters: With DCMS departing and Ofcom's investigation still open, X now faces a coordinated pullout by two U.K. government departments and the prospect of fines up to £18 million or 10% of worldwide revenue — turning what had been scattered institutional defections into a formal regulatory confrontation.
