By Pepper Parr
February 2nd, 2026
BURLINGTON, ON
Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan, the man who resides in Ward 2, has put forward a Motion asking that the City stop using x.com as a platform with which to communicate with its citizens.
Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan
Nisan is asking that the:
Director of Corporate Communications and Engagement to report back to the April 13, 2026 Committee of the Whole meeting on the consequences and mitigation
strategy of leaving the X social media platform.
Reason:
X is not Twitter. The platform, which now has Grok AI, is a platform for racism and anti-semitism as exemplified by its owner. The AI has recently been used to “undress”
women’s photos.
We don’t need X to engage our constituents. Engagement has been low for a long time.
Recent city posts regularly receive a single “like”.
Outcome Sought:
That staff provide an analysis of engagement with our City of Burlington community on X, and propose mitigation strategies for any loss of engagement, particularly with media
which is still on the platform to an extent.
Implications:
Moving off X should have minimal implications on the city’s ability to connect with its constituents.
Strategic Alignment
Designing and delivering complete communities
Providing the best services and experiences
Protecting and improving the natural environment and taking action on climate change
Driving organizational performance
Councillor Nisan: “We don’t need X to engage our constituents.”
Some comment and perspective on this Motion, particularly the Nisan observation that “We don’t need X to engage our constituents. Engagement has been low for a long time.
Engagement with the city has been low because City Council, and to some degree the City Communications people, see communication as a one-way street – THEM to Us – not that much US to THEM
This is one to keep an eye on.
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News flash: “X” removed offensive dressing a bikini on your favourite politician .
But with no mention of Chat or similar platforms ?
Brilliant plan. The city already has 40,000+ followers on X, every major announcement lands there instantly, and the platform costs us exactly zero dollars. But no—let’s not use the free tool that actually works.
Instead, let’s do the classic Burlington thing: Strike a committee.
Move to hire expert consultants for a six-figure “engagement strategy review.”
Post a DEI job ad for “Director of Inclusive Digital Platforms” (six figures, hybrid, unlimited Work From Home).
Form an ad-hoc task force.
Send residents a 12-page online survey with 47 mandatory questions.
Fly the new hire to “peer municipalities” for fact-finding junkets.
Commission a glossy report.
Build our own taxpayer-funded, password-protected, zero-engagement municipal social platform that nobody asked for and nobody will use.
All so we can proudly announce we’ve “moved off the platform of racism and antisemitism” while spending hundreds of thousands of residents’ money to recreate… what X already does for free.
Meanwhile, every press release, road closure, and budget highlight still magically appears on X and Facebook within minutes because that’s where actual humans look.
But hey—your motion checks the virtue-signalling box, so mission accomplished.
Keep up the important work, Taxpayers are thrilled. From a long time Burlington resident who’d rather have potholes fixed than another $200k “platform study”
Wow……he actually does important work for the citizens !
Commendable, it’d be cool if Councillor Nisan communicated in any other way with his constituents however.
It’s probably because everyone is ignoring his X account.
I didn’t even know that the City was using X to communicate with citizens. Perhaps that’s why engagement is so low. I’ll go look for it now.