VALE of Glamorgan Council has come under some criticism following a decision to stop using social media channel X, formerly known as Twitter, for communicating information about its work and services.

The announcement was made today (Thursday, 10 April), with Cllr Lis Burnett, Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, saying: "This is a decision about values. Over the last two years the X platform has become synonymous with abuse, misinformation, and extreme views. 

"We have set out our ambition of making the Vale a County of Sanctuary. One that is not only welcoming but that actively challenges discrimination and negative perceptions.

"As a Council we strongly believe that ensuring equality of opportunity is something that we should seek to provide for all citizens.

"With these ambitions in mind X no longer feels like a space where we should be interacting with our residents. I recognise that many people still use the platform but it is simply not the right place to ask our community to engage with us.

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"This is also a decision about making the best use of our resources. Recent changes to X have made it harder to engage with local people about our work.

"We will continue to engage with residents on other social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn."

A council statement adds: "The decision to leave X has been made in light of a significant decline in engagement on the platform in the last two years. This is due to increasing numbers of inactive accounts, as well as changes to the algorithm which drives the content in users' feeds.

"Despite having 29,000 followers on the platform, many of these accounts are now inactive. The number of impressions achieved via the platform is now less than 10% of those achieved two years ago."

Rhys Thomas, Conservative Councillor for Plymouth ward in Penarth, said: "This is an odd decision, and yet another example of the Labour-run Council trying to avoid scrutiny.

"Many Vale residents use X as a source of information, and it's vital that the Council has active accounts on social media platforms like X.

"Instead of indulging in their usual virtue-signalling, the Council should take responsibility and focus on what matters to people across the Vale of Glamorgan."