A major refugee charity has quit X, formerly Twitter, due to “unchecked hate, racism, misinformation and conspiracy theories” on the social media platform.

Refugee Action, which supports refugees and people seeking asylum, said the social media platform was home to “increasingly racist and dehumanising rhetoric” and was no longer a good way to communicate with the charity’s community.

The charity is the latest in a spate of organisations to leave the platform, including the domestic abuse charity Solace, the Scottish children’s rights charity Children First and the charity leadership body Acevo.

Refugee Action announced its decision last week (5 December) with a post on the platform, saying: “We will no longer be posting on or using X.

“We’re done with the unchecked hate, racism, misinformation and conspiracy theories here – all of which are part of the problem.”

This comes after racist riots broke out across the UK during the summer, which were sparked by misinformation that circulated on social media relating to the identity of Axel Rudakubana, a 17-year-old who fatally stabbed three young girls in Southport on 29 July.

In its statement, Refugee Action added that the “increasingly racist and dehumanising rhetoric” found on X “only feeds racist violence, riots and policy decisions”.

The charity said that while no social media platform was perfect and there were other platforms where racism and hate still existed, X was “no longer a good way to communicate with our community and build our movement”.

It said: “We’re ready to open a new chapter of digital communication, where we hope we don’t have to block people from replying to our posts about the people we work with due to the risk of abuse.

“We want to build a movement with people who want to end the hostile environment for refugees. If that’s you, we’ll see you in other spaces.”

The charity said supporters could find it on Bluesky and other social media platforms.