New Brunswick no longer using x
Executive summary
New Brunswick’s provincial government announced it will stop using the social media platform X for routine government communications, citing recent concerns about harmful content and inadequate safeguards that have eroded public trust [1] [2]. The decision followed a formal request from the province’s Child and Youth Advocate about sexualization and exploitation facilitated on X, particularly involving the platform’s AI chatbot Grok [3].
1. Why the province is logging off: child-safety and AI red flags
Premier Susan Holt framed the move as a protective step for young people after the Child and Youth Advocate, Kelly Lamrock, urged the government to move away from X because of a report highlighting risks of sexualization and exploitation on the platform; that report singled out Grok’s ability to create sexualized or manipulated images as a central concern [3] [1]. Holt said the platform’s “recent history, including reports of harmful content and inadequate safeguards, has eroded trust that it can be used in a way that aligns with our values and obligations to New Brunswickers,” language repeated across provincial statements and media coverage [1] [2].
2. What “no longer using X” actually means in practice
Officials framed the change as ending routine use of X for government communications rather than a complete, immediate deletion of all presence; Premier Holt and the government say core information channels will instead rely on Facebook, Instagram, the government website and other platforms such as Bluesky for public notices [2] [4]. Reporting indicates specific government-run X accounts that have been used for public-safety messaging — including the Emergency Measures Organization account, a forest-fire information account and a 511 road-conditions account — will be affected by the pivot away from X [5].
3. The broader context: global scrutiny of X and Grok
New Brunswick’s decision arrives amid international concern and legal scrutiny of X and its AI operations: media outlets and regulators have reported probes and, in at least one instance, a Paris office raid tied to alleged child sexual abuse images and deepfakes, adding momentum to institutional distancing from the platform [4] [2]. Coverage notes that misuse of Grok to generate sexualized images without consent is a driver of backlash and that X has faced criticism globally from governments and advocacy groups [4] [6].
4. Opposing viewpoints and pragmatic trade-offs
Not all reasons for leaving X are exclusively safety-based: some municipalities have already reduced reliance on X because resident usage declined, complicating the calculus between outreach reach and platform risk; the City of Fredericton’s recent operational choices reflect this mix of safety concerns and audience behavior [3]. The government itself emphasized continuity of service by directing the public to alternate channels, acknowledging the trade-off between removing a tool and ensuring residents still receive timely emergency and service updates [2] [4].
5. What this signals to other public institutions and X users
Analysts and coverage position New Brunswick alongside a growing list of public institutions distancing themselves from X amid safety and regulatory questions, a pattern that may encourage other jurisdictions to reassess whether X can serve official communication needs [6]. Media reports portray the move as both values-driven and defensive — intended to shield vulnerable populations and to avoid association with a platform under investigation [1] [4].
6. What remains unclear from available reporting
The sources document the announcement and its motivations but do not provide a precise operational timeline for account deactivation, exhaustive lists of all affected government or crown-corporation accounts, or metrics estimating how many New Brunswickers relied on X for emergency updates; those specifics are not present in the cited reporting and therefore cannot be asserted here [5] [3].