York Catholic District School Board is leaving the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, over concerns about pornographic content.
The school board announced the move Dec. 3, with a plan to use other social media platforms to get its messages across. The platform has been the only social media the school board has used for several years, with more than 34,000 followers on its account.
But the board said X policy allowing for pornographic content is driving them off the platform starting Jan. 1. Schools, clubs and departments will also stop using the platform.
“Community partners have shared that while searching for York Catholic content, they have found pornography posted by non-York Catholic accounts, and we find that unacceptable,” the school board said in a news release. “As a Catholic learning community entrusted with nurturing children, we cannot encourage our community to engage with us on a platform where such content is considered acceptable.”
The social media platform updated its adult content policy in June. Although such content has existed on the platform for years, the policy change formalized its allowance.
The board cited "The Catechism of the Catholic Church" on pornography, which states that it “does grave injury to the dignity of its participants … since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials."
The board further cited an information session partnership with York Regional Police on protecting children from human trafficking and online sexual exploitation.
“Those who attended those sessions learned about how some internet pornography is produced under exploitative circumstances; this fact supports the Catholic Church's opposition to pornography,” the board said.
It is not the first time the school board has taken a stance on social media. The board joined a lawsuit with other school boards in May against Meta, Snapchat and TikTok for alleged impacts on students' mental health.
The board said it would be using other platforms, including Instagram, LinkedIn and the Meta-owned Threads. Schools will be opening accounts on the platforms as well, the board said.
“Thank you again for being a member of our community and engaging in the mission of Catholic education,” the board said.
