After almost twenty years on the platform, EFF is logging off of X. This isn’t a decision we made lightly, but it might be overdue. The math hasn’t worked out for a while now.
The Numbers Aren’t Working Out
We posted to Twitter (now known as X) five to ten times a day in 2018. Those tweets garnered somewhere between 50 and 100 million impressions per month. By 2024, our 2,500 X posts generated around 2 million impressions each month. Last year, our 1,500 posts earned roughly 13 million impressions for the entire year. To put it bluntly, an X post today receives less than 3% of the views a single tweet delivered seven years ago.We Expected More
When Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022, EFF was clear about what needed fixing.We called for:
- Transparent content moderation: Publicly shared policies, clear appeals processes, and renewed commitment to the Santa Clara Principles
- Real security improvements: Including genuine end-to-end encryption for direct messages
- Greater user control: Giving users and third-party developers the means to control the user experience through filters and interoperability.
"But You're Still on Facebook and TikTok?"
Yes. And we understand why that looks contradictory. Let us explain.EFF exists to protect people’s digital rights. Not just the people who already value our work, have opted out of surveillance, or have already migrated to the fediverse. The people who need us most are often the ones most embedded in the walled gardens of the mainstream platforms and subjected to their corporate surveillance.
Young people, people of color, queer folks, activists, and organizers use Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook every day. These platforms host mutual aid networks and serve as hubs for political organizing, cultural expression, and community care. Just deleting the apps isn't always a realistic or accessible option, and neither is pushing every user to the fediverse when there are circumstances like:
- You own a small business that depends on Instagram for customers.
- Your abortion fund uses TikTok to spread crucial information.
- You're isolated and rely on online spaces to connect with your community.
We stay because the people on those platforms deserve access to information, too. We stay because some of our most-read posts are the ones criticizing the very platform we're posting on. We stay because the fewer steps between you and the resources you need to protect yourself, the better.
We'll Keep Fighting. Just Not on X
When you go online, your rights should go with you. X is no longer where the fight is happening. The platform Musk took over was imperfect but impactful. What exists today is something else: diminished, and increasingly de minimis.EFF takes on big fights, and we win. We do that by putting our time, skills, and our members’ support where they will effect the most change. Right now, that means Bluesky, Mastodon, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and eff.org. We hope you follow us there and keep supporting the work we do. Our work protecting digital rights is needed more than ever before, and we’re here to help you take back control.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/eff-leaving-x (Archive)
Author btw:
Kenyatta Thomas
Social Media and Video Manager
As the Social Media and Video Manager at EFF, Kenyatta Thomas leads the creation of digital content that educates and mobilizes the public across EFF's online platforms. They come to EFF from a background in youth and reproductive justice advocacy and organizing, having previously worked with organizations such as Physicians for Reproductive Health, the National Network of Abortion Funds, Reproaction, and Advocates for Youth. Their work as a sex educator and abortion doula informs their deep commitment to community care, access to information, and tech equity. Kenyatta believes in the transformative power of digital tools to advance justice and is committed to making online spaces more inclusive, accessible, and empowering for all.
Kenyatta received their B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in Digital Audiences and Justice Studies from Arizona State University. Outside of work, Kenyatta can be found playing video games, writing screenplays, and affectionately annoying their cat.
