The ABC has culled its Twitter presence to save journalists from harassment and to cut costs, the managing director has said.
David Anderson released a statement on Wednesday explaining why the News Breakfast, Insiders and ABC Politics accounts have been archived in recent months.
Twitter, which has been rebranded as X under new CEO, Elon Musk, has become ineffective and costly according to the broadcaster.
‘In February we closed three program accounts, for Insiders, News Breakfast and ABC Politics, and the results of that have been positive,’ Mr Anderson wrote.
The only accounts that will remain on the platform are @abcnews @abcsport @ABCChinese @ABCaustralia.
Since Musk bought the platform for $44b in October 2022, safety measures have been cut and the site has become toxic, according to Mr Anderson.
ABC will move its focus away from Twitter, or X, because of the toxic environment it fosters, managing director David Anderson has said
Twitter, which has been rebranded as X under new CEO, Elon Musk (pictured), has become ineffective, costly and unsafe to the ABC’s public-facing staff
‘There are multiple reasons for this decision,’ Mr Anderson wrote.
‘Closing individual accounts helps limit the exposure of team members to the toxic interactions that unfortunately are becoming more prevalent on X.
‘Concerningly, X has reduced its trust and safety teams.’
Instead of adapting to the new atmosphere Musk has created, the ABC will now push their content on other sites like Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.
While still posting to their main @abcnews account, their media teams aim to grow ABC’s TikTok audience, which is forecast to be most beneficial for growth.
‘The vast majority of the ABC’s social media audience is located on official sites on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, with TikTok forecast to have the strongest growth over the next four years,’ Mr Anderson continued.
‘We want to focus our effort and resources on where our audiences are.’
Read Related Also: Mark Latham axed as One Nation leader in NSW
This news follows Mr Anderson sitting before a Senate estimates hearing where he gave evidence against X’s safety for users in May.
Twitter, as it was known at the time, had become a ‘cesspool’ according to Mr Anderson, who said that he had to refer several incidents of trolling onto police.
The director cited a review of whether the organisation was doing enough to support its employees, saying he was worried about their public-facing staff.
‘We’re coming to a precipice here, particularly in the discussion around how we can protect our people,’ he said before the committee.
Things got especially bad during ABC’s 2023 coronation coverage, in the wake of which star Stan Grant stepped away from his position as host of their Q&A program.
The ABC’s Q+A host Stan Grant (right) announced in May he would be taking an indefinite break from media saying he had ‘had enough’ of the racism
During related broadcasts, Mr Grant, a First Nations man, pointed out that the crown represents the invasion and theft of Aboriginal land.
The segment sparked about 1,800 complaints from the public, the Senate committee inquiry hearing was told.
Hundreds of the complaints were racist in nature, Mr Anderson said, while others noted that the coronation discussion was worthwhile but poorly timed.
‘Some of it was in good faith, quite a lot of it was not in good faith,’ he said.
‘I think the time for dignified silence is over, I think for our people we need to be certainly more public supportive of them as well as what we do internally.’
Mr Anderson was joined in his approach by news director Justin Stevens, both of who were concerned about Indigenous staff as the Voice referendum approaches.
Mr Stevens explained that Mr Grant had been subjected to relentless racism during his tenure, but the coronation coverage led to a particular spike in racial vitriol.
‘We’re talking about a really large volume and torrent of racial abuse and threats to Stan and his family over the course of a number of days,’ he said.
Mr Grant has since received an apology from the broadcaster.
