A Catholic archdiocese has become the latest Christian body to leave social media site X.

In a post on the platform, the Archdiocese of Liverpool announced it will no longer use the site “due to ethical and moral reasons”. 

It directed followers to connect with its Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn pages. 

A number of Church of England dioceses have decided to leave the platform in recent weeks, in response to concerns its AI tool Grok was creating sexualised deepfakes of women and children. 

X, owned by Elon Musk, has said issues around the non-consentual images are being fixed.

Matt Batten, director of communications for the Diocese of Bangor of the Church in Wales, told Premier Christian News that the platform has turned “toxic” and raised concerns about its algorithm.

Having previously been in favour of churches using the platform, he now believes it is “high time for churches to leave X.”

“We've all done what we've can to be on that platform, sharing the gospel, sharing the good news of Christ, but when a platform has turned so toxic, it's time we make a stand and say no more. There are other places that we need to be that we can focus on.”

“I think the algorithm really, really prioritises anger, prioritises people attacking one another. There's an awful lot of fake news and deepfake imagery that is deeply disturbing. That’s not what we should be encouraging,” he added. 

There were a number of critical replies to the archdiocese’s post, questioning how coming off the platform helps the church to “into the world to proclaim the Good News to the whole of creation,” as per the account’s bio. 

But Batten believes churches can still be a part of the public square on other digital platforms, away from the “extreme anger” on X. He encouraged leaders to be a part of the “boom in Chrisitan content” on sites like TikTok and Instagram. 

Premier Christian News has contacted the Archdiocese of Liverpool for further comment.