10 January 2026
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
File photo of Cllr Kamegni
Former Deputy Lord Mayor and Green Party councillor for Cork City South East, Honore Kamegni, has joined his Green Party colleagues in withdrawing from the social media platform Twitter/X, citing serious concerns about the platform’s direction, content moderation, and recent developments involving AI-generated imagery.
Cllr Kamegni said:
“The recent development where Grok AI is producing and posting undressed images of people without their consent makes continued use of this platform untenable. Over the past three years, I have personally experienced sustained abuse on X/Twitter including racism, harassment, and climate denial, but this recent development represents an entirely new and deeply disturbing category. It is something I can no longer be associated with.”
“Remaining on the platform now only lends credibility to practices that are abhorrent and represent a complete perversion of the original intent of social media.”
Cllr Kamegni acknowledged that social media has played an important role in public engagement but stressed that this engagement must take place in spaces that uphold basic standards of dignity, safety, and democratic discourse.
“As public representatives, we need meaningful ways of engaging with our constituents and the wider public. I have had many positive and constructive interactions online in the past, and I intend to continue that engagement on other platforms. I will remain active on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky, and I encourage people to continue to connect with me there.”
He also raised broader concerns about the power of large technology platforms and the consequences of weak regulation:
“There are serious questions to be asked about where we are going as a society when a company that controls such a large share of public discourse can descend to this level with what appears to be near impunity.”
Cllr Kamegni called for decisive action from Government and regulators:
“I would urge a strong response and ask that the Government and relevant regulatory bodies act swiftly to ensure that the direction taken by a social media giant like X/Twitter is not one that is legally permissible.”
Concluding, he emphasised the democratic stakes involved:
“Hearing from constituents and people in my community in Cork and across Ireland is hugely important. When public discourse is diluted, distorted, and turned into something regressive and abusive, it poses a real threat to democracy itself. Allowing giant companies to pollute the rivers and streams of public discourse in this way must be challenged.”