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Woke Mass. city ditches X for Bluesky after claiming platform is ‘dangerous’

Thursday, March 5, 2026•
5 min read
MDN Staff
•
Woke Mass. city ditches X for Bluesky after claiming platform is ‘dangerous’

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CAMBRIDGE — A famously progressive city is ditching Elon Musk’s X and heading to Bluesky after branding the platform ‘toxic.’
Cambridge, the wealthy and deeply liberal enclave just across the Charles River from Boston and home to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, voted to stop using X for official communications. Municipal accounts are expected to transition to other platforms in the coming weeks.
The move comes in a city led by Mayor Denise Simmons, a longtime progressive political figure whose agenda has focused heavily on racial equity, climate action and social justice initiatives.
For decades, Cambridge has cultivated a reputation as one of the most left-leaning communities in the United States, with politics in the city often shaped by its university-heavy population and highly educated workforce.
City officials say the decision to leave X stems from concerns about the direction of the platform under Musk, who purchased the company in 2022 and rolled back a number of content restrictions that existed under previous management.
Supporters of the platform argue those changes restored something many believed was disappearing from the modern internet. Open debate.
In the years leading up to Musk’s takeover, critics across the political spectrum warned that large social media platforms were moving toward increasingly aggressive moderation, removing content, suspending accounts and narrowing the boundaries of acceptable political speech.
Some pointed to communities on platforms like Reddit, where volunteer moderators, often unpaid, wield significant influence over what viewpoints appear in large online forums representing entire cities and regions.

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Musk has repeatedly described X as a modern digital town square, arguing that social media platforms should allow a broad range of views to compete openly rather than being filtered through layers of moderation.
Supporters say that shift helped reverse what they saw as a growing trend toward a tightly curated and heavily moderated online information environment.
Critics, meanwhile, argue the loosened policies have allowed more abusive content to circulate on the platform.
The city’s official X account confirmed the shift in a final message posted on the platform, telling followers Cambridge would no longer be posting or engaging there and directing residents to other social media accounts for updates.
Officials said residents will instead be able to follow city communications through other platforms, including Bluesky and additional city-run channels.
The decision comes just days after Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell also stopped posting on X and directed followers to other social media platforms.
Campbell’s move drew criticism from some observers who argued that public officials should remain present on widely used platforms where constituents are already engaged rather than abandoning them.
The attorney general had faced a wave of criticism on X following questions raised online about accountability surrounding an audit connected to her office.
Critics said leaving the platform risked appearing as though public officials were retreating from scrutiny, while supporters said stepping away allowed officials to avoid what they described as an increasingly hostile online environment.
For now, one of America’s most progressive cities is preparing to take its government communications elsewhere and shift activity to other social media platforms.

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