Germany’s defence ministry and army announced they were ending their activities on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“We have decided to take this step because an objective debate is becoming increasingly difficult here”, the ministry posted January 15.
It was suspending its X channel until further notice and would no longer post anything for the time being.
Only in certain cases, such as “campaigns of disinformation”, would the ministry reactivate its X account, it said.
Liebe Followerinnen und Follower,
wir werden unseren X-Kanal bis auf weiteres ruhen lassen und vorerst nichts mehr aktiv posten.
Wir haben uns zu diesem Schritt entschlossen, weil ein sachlicher Austausch hier zunehmend erschwert wird. (1/3)— Verteidigungsministerium (@BMVg_Bundeswehr) January 15, 2025
Shortly afterwards, German armed forces shared the defence ministry’s post, adding “We concur with the decision.”
Both accounts deactivated the option for users to reply directly to their posts.
Other German armed forces accounts announced they also were joining the exodus, including General Carsten Breuer, the army’s inspector general, and Germany’s air force.
None of these organisations or individuals had plans to leave social media altogether.
The defence ministry invited its 160,000 followers to use its WhatsApp channel instead.
The German armed forces – with 160,000 followers on X – were also still active on Chinese-controlled social media platform Tiktok, and shared a live feed at the time of the announcement of the withdrawal from X.
The German air force referred users to their account on the more Left-leaning social media platform Bluesky.
A number of German X users greeted these announcements with scorn and ridicule.
Journalist Oliver Gorus argued the ministry had behaved hypocritically in claiming it was guided by transparency and openness in its social media policy.
He said he had checked the ministry’s posting history, but had found not a single reply from it to any questions or comments posted by citizens.
The military retreat appeared to be connected, at least in part, with a spat between Germany’s left-wing government coalition and X owner Elon Musk.
“Only AfD can save Germany”, Musk posted on X on December 20, 2024.
The right-wing AfD party was ahead in polls of both the Social Democrats and the Greens, coalition partners in the current German government.
Musk’s comment – and his endorsement of AfD candidate Alice Weidel – shocked many members of Europe’s Left, who accused him of foreign election interference
The defence ministry – to which the armed forces report – is run by Social Democrat Party defence minister Boris Pistorius.
