Belgium’s major public transportation companies have all announced they were leaving social media giant X.
According to the relevant government organisations on March 19, the platform no longer aligned with their values.
The firms all announced the decision simultaneously at 10am on their X profiles.
“We are leaving X. This communication channel is no longer in line with the values of NMBS,” the railway company NMBS posted.
STIB/MIVB, the local public transport firm in Brussels operating buses, trams and metro’s posted: “We are leaving X / Twitter. For information on real time and traffic news, go to http://stib.brussels.
“For any questions: https://stib-mivb.be/support-client Do you want to keep following us? Check out our other social networks or subscribe to our WhatsApp channel.”
In reaction to the move, it was noted by critics online that, as the firms served a public function, they should maximise their reach instead of limiting it for political reasons.
Many mentioned what they saw as the poor quality of their service, despite the high costs, pointing to frequent delays and tardiness of all the public transport companies involved.
Others mentioned underperforming online apps and difficulty in contacting the companies when problems occur.
“Final stop reached: We will no longer be active on X (Twitter),” the Flemish bus company De Lijn posted.
Wallonia’s bus company posted: “The TEC on X is over Questions? Find real-time information about your journey (timetables, routes, cancellations, etc.) at http://letec.be or on the TEC app Find us also on our other social networks.”
While their following was rather limited — NMBS had only 64,000, while its francophone counterpart had 51,000. STIB-MIVB counted 173,000 and De Lijn almost 95,000. TEC had only 1,000.
Nous quittons X / Twitter. Pour des informations sur le temps réel et l'info trafic, rendez-vous sur https://t.co/GFRfaB9wbf.
Pour toutes questions : https://t.co/YiRlgoGGxi
Envie de continuer à nous suivre ? Consultez nos autres réseaux sociaux ou abonnez-vous à notre chaîne… pic.twitter.com/yqyHdqiEnf
— STIB-MIVB (@STIBMIVB) March 19, 2025
The decision to leave X came amid of a long series of unpopular strikes by NMBS, with staff demanding to keep the pension privileges enjoyed previously.
A large chunk of the costs of NMBS went to their almost 700 directors.
Eindhalte bereikt: we zullen niet meer actief zijn op X (Twitter).
Voor reisinfo kijk je best op https://t.co/WMqyoROzM2 of in onze app.
En heb je vragen? Contacteer ons dan via https://t.co/v1xwV1NGyO pic.twitter.com/V1Tq9snsnP
— De Lijn (@delijn) March 19, 2025
Bart Claes MP in Flanders, a member of the Vlaams Belang party, pointed out that while De Lijn said it left X because of policies pushed by billionaire owner Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump, it was happy to buy electric buses from the Chinese-owned BYD.
He posited that implied the Chinese Communist regime apparently was more in line with the values of De Lijn.
Earlier, the Dutch Greens party also announced it would leave X, claiming the platform had become “toxic”.
Belgium’s mobility minister, Jean-Luc Crucke, had also already left X.
A sharp rise in crime around the Brussels-Midi train station has gained public attention in Belgium after a video of a family left stranded there for a night went viral. https://t.co/ZyAnOzm0hI
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 28, 2023
