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California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and 57 Assembly Member Offices Announce Departure from X

Serious concerns over disinformation, lack of content moderation, hate speech, and fake accounts on X prompt decision to prioritize serving Californians on other social media platforms

For immediate release:

SACRAMENTO—California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and 57 Democratic Assemblymembers today announced they will stop communications from official state accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter), citing concerns over disinformation and the platform’s lack of content moderation, rampant hate speech and racist content, and the proliferation of fake or inauthentic accounts.

This is one of the single largest departures of elected representatives from X. 

What Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas Says

“There are real risks with relying on a private company, owned by Elon Musk, as a channel for communications. Democracy depends on impartial information, not the shifting whims of one billionaire. Hate speech is everywhere on X, the company has no accountability, and the flood of misinformation from fake accounts is just that — fake. I don’t think taxpayer resources should go to X.”

What Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry Says

“As someone who's lived through devastating wildfires in California, it broke my heart to see people reject federal assistance because of disinformation on X. Elon Musk does not invest in moderation on the platform, which means there is rampant misinformation, and this clearly causes harm and endangers our friends and neighbors during emergencies. It is irresponsible to continue to encourage our constituents to seek reliable public safety info on X.” 

The Speaker and the Assembly Democratic Caucus member offices will remain connected to their constituents on numerous social media platforms, serving tens of millions of Californians with updates on legislative initiatives, policy priorities, community engagement work and public-safety information, including Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, BlueSky, YouTube, Threads and other platforms. 

You can connect with California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on the following social-media platforms:

As of February 2025, X significantly lags in usage behind YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and other social media apps:

  • X is the ninth most used social media platform globally and the eighth most popular social platform for users ages 18-and-over. (Digital 2025 Global Overview Report)
  • X has significantly fewer monthly active users than its competitors, and is one of the least popular social media sites in the world. (Statista)
  • X has only 104 million users in the United States, compared to YouTube (253 million), LinkedIn (205 million), Instagram (172 million), Facebook (197 million) and TikTok (136 million). (Digital 2025 The United States of America)

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For additional information, please contact:

Speaker Robert Rivas Press Secretary, Cynthia.Moreno@asm.ca.gov.

Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas represents California’s 29th Assembly District, which includes all of San Benito County and portions of Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara Counties. For a full biography of Speaker Rivas, click here.