“A shameless, audacious assertion”: X falsely claims to support RSF

On December 12, 2023, the @Safety account belonging to the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, published a message claiming that RSF, along with two other organizations, had the company's support. The head of X, Linda Yaccarino, also shared the message and said she was proud to "keep shining a spotlight" on these organizations. However, RSF formally denies any form of support from X whatsoever. Our organization has not taken up any offer from X.

Although RSF accepted advertising credits on Twitter in 2020, RSF has not followed up on any offers from the company since it was taken over by Elon Musk. And, naturally, RSF did not follow up an offer from X's communications department of €25,000 in advertising credits, sent on December 8, 2023. The 'partnership' offer presupposed that Linda Yaccarino would mention X's support on her account. 

"What a shameless, audacious assertion! Linda Yaccarino and her team are deluding themselves. Since Twitter’s takeover by Elon Musk, RSF has consistently denounced the social network's abuse of journalists, the media, and access to information. If Linda Yaccarino really wants to help RSF in its fight for press freedom and access to information, she should start by following the recommendations we made to her when she was appointed."

Christophe Deloire

Secretary General of RSF

Since Musk took it over, RSF has never wavered in its criticism of the social network, which has become the radical embodiment of the threat posed to democracies by major platforms.

As a reminder, in December 2022, RSF called on a group of democracies to buy the social network, considering that its new owner, Elon Musk, posed numerous democratic problems to which a radical response was needed.