Berlinale ‘decided to say goodbye’ to X

The Berlin International Film Festival has announced it is quitting Elon Musk’s social media platform X, but said nothing about moving to Bluesky.

One of the world’s most prestigious film festivals posted on X to announce its departure from the platform.

“The Berlinale has decided to say goodbye to X on Dec 3, 2024. Thank you for following us here all these years,” the post read.

“Stay connected with all things Berlinale on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and our website. See you there!” it said.

The Berlinale has decided to say goodbye to X on Dec 31, 2024. Thank you for following us here all these years. Stay connected with all things Berlinale on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and our website. See you there! ❤️ #Berlinale pic.twitter.com/ZpsXM2d3DO

undefined Berlinale (@berlinale) November 4, 2024

Many of the recent X refugees have flocked to Bluesky, an alternative microblogging platform that opened up to the public earlier this year.

However, the film festival does not appear to be following suit, at least for now. It does not have a presence on Meta-owned Threads either.

Bluesky is now the third-largest microblogging platform, trailing only X and Threads.

The Berlinale has almost 134,000 followers on X, and joined Twitter – as it was called before new owner Musk renamed it – in 2009.

The festival, which will be celebrating its 75th edition in February, did not give the reason behind the decision to leave X, but it is likely to be a result of a number of concerns, including the spread of disinformation and political propaganda on the platform.

Musk’s wholehearted involvement in the presidential election campaign on behalf of Donald Trump has alienated some users.

However, a review of how the block function works and changing the terms of service to no longer allow users to opt out from having their content used to train Grok, the platform’s generative AI model, have been cited as the main reasons behind the most recent exodus.

The Berlinale is the only of the world’s “big five” film festivals that has announced it was quitting X.

Earlier this year, Alberto Barbera, the artistic director at the Venice Film Festival, said he was leaving X over Musk’s statements.

The festival’s organizing body, La Biennale di Venezia, maintains presence and continues to actively post on X, as do the Cannes Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Berlinale’s decision was met with mixed reactions from X users. Some welcomed the move, but others accused the festival of “virtue signaling” and being “woke”.