Why quit X? - Launch of EscapeX campaign

EscapeX International campaign: improving the digital public space

In response to growing concerns over Elon Musk’s interference in European democracies, multiple initiatives across Europe have joined forces to launch the EscapeX campaign. This movement urges individuals, institutions, media outlets and policymakers to break free from the platform X and transition to more democratic, decentralised digital spaces such as Bluesky and Mastodon. It promotes an application that enables users to re-establish their connections to these better platforms.

The EscapeX campaign is founded by an alliance of initiatives launched in recent months, presented below. In France with the HelloQuitX campaign, which was founded by the Ligue des droits de l’Homme, La Quadrature du net, SNJ-CGT, Nothing 2 Hide, On est prêt and Au Poste. It has created a unique jump to Bluesky and Mastodon (according to the numbers of Mastodon, the CEO of X in France, the analysis France / USA by L’express) by prompting many mainstream media outlets, politicians and cities to leave X. In Spain, the Vámonos Juntas campaign was launched by more than 120 organisations. In Germany, more than 120 universities and research institutesannounced their SciXit, or withdrawal from X. The petition Ban X in EU was launched by Italian activists, while with Leave X, an open letter for European politicians to abandon X was realized. Together, they are shifting the center of public debate toward more open and democratic digital spaces.

EscapeX is also supported in Germany by Campact, an organisation in which more than 3.5 million people are committed to progressive politics in defence of democracy. On its WeAct petition platform, almost 600,000 signatures have already been collected this year for the "Musk stop, shut down X" demand.

The EscapeX campaign is more than just leaving a platform—it’s about rebuilding and reclaiming the democratic digital space. It calls for spaces that are better suited to democratic debate: a neutral algorithm that does not distort public discourse and networks that strive for effective content moderation, as that supports journalism and reliable information; independence from technocrat billionaires and political influence. Everything that X is now lacking.

A major step forward: OpenPortability eases the transition

The OpenPortability platform (https://openportability.org) developed by the CNRS ISC-PIF lab (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France’s largest public scientific research organisation) and a team of volunteers, and promoted by the EscapeX campaign, enables users to re-establish their connections in spaces that are more respectful of democratic debate. This application allows users to link their identities on X, Mastodon and Bluesky, while restoring the links between all the people who use the application.

In France, more than 30,000 users have already joined the application, making it possible to recreate up to 45 million links between registered accounts. With just a few clicks, users can reconnect and reform their communities on alternative platforms, in complete transparency and without losing their previous contacts. All that is needed is to let the platform know who their contacts on X are, thanks to their X data, and they will be notified as more and more of their X contacts register on the platform and join Mastodon or Bluesky. Its initiative marks a concrete step forward in data portability, a fundamental principle enshrined in the Digital Services Act at European level.

The EscapeX campaign is now calling on all information professionals, politicians and, more generally, supporters of a living democracy to shift the centre of gravity of the digital agora towards more peaceful spaces, by using the OpenPortability application now.

Press Contacts:

• For Germany: press-de@escape-x.org
• For France : presse@escape-x.org
• For International : press@escape-x.org
• For Spain: press-es@escape-x.org
• For Italy : press-it@escape-x.org