The European Central Bank (ECB) has started posting on the Bluesky platform, a competitor to Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter. The ECB’s move to join Bluesky comes as Musk intensifies his political campaigning in Europe, including urging voters in Germany to support a far-right party. Bluesky is one of several platforms attempting to challenge X’s dominance following Musk’s acquisition of the site.
An ECB spokesperson explained that the central bank aims to diversify its social media presence and had started engaging with several new platforms last year, making Bluesky the latest addition. The ECB’s initial post on Bluesky included an interview with its chief economist, Philip Lane, which was also shared on X. The ECB plans to continue using X alongside its new presence on Bluesky.
Musk’s political influence on X has been controversial, with critics accusing the platform of enabling the spread of misinformation. Recently, Musk hosted the leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on X, an interaction that the European Commission has stated it will monitor for disinformation. Musk has also supported Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.
In contrast, the ECB, under President Christine Lagarde, has focused on issues like gender equality and climate change. Musk, a vocal critic of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, has also been outspoken against climate change efforts, supporting figures like former President Donald Trump, who has labeled climate change a hoax. Musk’s stance on the Federal Reserve has been similarly critical, calling the institution “absurdly overstaffed” and advocating for its dissolution.
Despite Bluesky’s recent growth, with 2.5 million new users added after Trump’s election, it remains much smaller than its competitors. Threads has around 252 million monthly active users, while X has approximately 317 million, according to Sensor Tower data. However, Bluesky has faced challenges with EU regulators, who criticized the platform last year for not providing essential details about its user base in the region.