North Perth Council is reviewing its presence on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) following a constituent request to remove the municipality’s account.
At its regular meeting on March 24 council discussed a letter that urged the municipality to join other communities in closing their X accounts, citing concerns over the platform’s ownership and its alignment with Canadian values.
"I formally request that North Perth consider deleting its X account in a show of Canadian solidarity," the letter stated, suggesting that the municipality could transition to the alternative platform BlueSky while continuing to use Facebook and Instagram.
During the meeting, Councillor Matt Rothwell raised the issue, asking if council would consider directing staff to provide recommendations on potential alternatives.
"I’m just wondering if Council would agree to consider requesting staff to give their recommendation at a subsequent meeting regarding possible alternatives or not to that platform," Rothwell said.
Lindsay Klein, North Perth’s interim Manager of Strategic Initiatives, confirmed that staff has been monitoring the trend of municipalities discontinuing their use of X, and plans to undertake a review for all of North Perth's social media accounts.
Other municipalities have recently taken steps to remove their accounts from X, citing similar concerns about the platform’s ownership and content moderation policies.