A Liberal-appointed Alberta senator is calling on federal departments and agencies to stop using Twitter, calling the platform “revolting” and urging Ottawa to follow New Brunswick’s lead in abandoning the social media site for official communications.Sen. Paula Simons, a former CBC producer and Edmonton Journal columnist, raised the issue during Senate Question Period, citing declining usage and public dissatisfaction with the platform, now known as X. “The City of Fredericton also stopped using X after a city survey showed that fewer and fewer residents were still on the platform,” Simons said. “When will the Canadian government follow New Brunswick’s lead?”Simons noted that the Supreme Court of Canada ceased using X a year ago and suggested alternative platforms, including Mastodon and Bluesky, could replace it. “Given the declining number of Canadians using X, because many have quit for reasons of moral revulsion, will the government consider embracing new social media platforms instead?” she asked.The senator also criticized the fractured social media landscape, saying it has become increasingly difficult to spread messages broadly, even those that are true. “Once everyone in a community was sharing the same information at the same time and reacting to it in concert. That doesn’t happen anymore,” she said..Sen. Pierre Moreau (Que.), government representative in the Senate, declined to comment but said he would raise the issue.Research commissioned by the Privy Council in 2023 shows Canadians spend between 3 and 5 hours daily on social media, with platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube and Snapchat being the most common. Facebook and Twitter are used mainly to react to posts from friends, family and public figures, while LinkedIn is primarily for professional networking and skill development.
