Assembly Democrats left Twitter. Except two millennials who say it’s a bad idea.

Late last month, nearly all of the Democrats in the California State Assembly abruptly ditched X, the social media site owned by Elon Musk and formerly known as Twitter. Per a suggestion from leadership, the lawmakers all simultaneously decided to stop posting from their state-run, taxpayer-funded accounts on X in protest of the misinformation and hate speech on Musk’s platform.

Except three. And one in particular — Assemblymember Isaac Bryan — is not only sticking around, but also staying loud.

“I refuse to bow out,” Bryan, a 33-year-old Democrat from Los Angeles, told SFGATE. “Being able to shape the public narrative is incredibly important right now, which is why Elon has bought this platform.”

Bryan is joined by two other Democratic assemblymembers, Jacqui Irwin and Michelle Rodriguez, in still having staff update their official government X account. But while their lingering presence is much more modest, Bryan is doubling down on Musk’s platform, continuing to post on his personal X account as well, where his 60,000 followers give him a substantially larger audience than most of his Democratic colleagues. He said his large following emboldens him to push back against his adversaries online — that and, perhaps, his age.

“There’s definitely a generational difference in comfortability with some of these platforms,” said Bryan, the vice chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. “I think utilizing a public voice through social media is something I think only a handful of us grew up with. For others, it became a tool for this job.”

The generational theory holds when you consider the other Assembly Democrat who is also still posting regular fiery missives on X: 29-year-old Alex Lee from San Jose, who made history in 2020 as California’s first Gen Z legislator.

Lee is also posting from his personal X account, where he boasts a little over 18,000 followers. He said Assembly Democrats were all presented with the option to leave X by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. But because Lee, who is the chair of the Legislative Progressive Caucus, never had a state account to begin with, he wasn’t specifically asked to abandon the platform.

“I do think it’s important we don’t fund Elon’s social media pet projects,” Lee told SFGATE, explaining why he’s against paying to be verified or have access to X Premium. But he’s not willing to leave the platform entirely, describing himself as “very vocal” there.

Lee quarrelled online last month with San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, also a Democrat, after Mahan announced a proposal to arrest homeless people. Lee wrote that Mahan’s plan was “immoral, ineffective, and stupid,” prompting a lengthy reply from the mayor. The incendiary back-and-forth got nearly 120,000 views.

“I do agree with the Speaker that X is a den of disinformation,” Lee said. “It’s an intolerable space. But I personally will not be backing out. It’s important to stay relevant on the channels of communication that people are on, and I also think it’s important to punch some Nazis verbally.”

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Bryan said he understands that for some of his colleagues, backing out of X is “not a terrible idea.”

“The hate, the bigotry, and the misinformation,” he said. “It’s completely understandable why folks are bailing out.”

FILE: Elon Musk speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. Win McNamee/Getty Images

A February study from the journal PLOS One found that the weekly rates of hate speech on X rose about 50% in the months since it was purchased in 2022 by tech mogul Musk. The analysis also found that the number of bots or bot-like accounts did not decrease, despite Musk’s promises to reduce bot activity.

When Rivas announced the Democrats’ exodus, he cited the bot accounts specifically. “The company has no accountability, and the flood of misinformation from fake accounts is just that — fake,” Rivas said in a news release. “I don’t think taxpayer resources should go to X.”

Bryan said he has noticed that engagement with his posts has decreased since Musk’s takeover of the platform. His messaging “doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to,” he said. Lee said the same, speculating that since he doesn’t pay for a monthly X subscription, his posts get “throttled” by the algorithm.

Bryan and Lee also agreed that it is not entirely coincidental that they are among the most outspoken of their colleagues online. In part, they credit coming of age during the social media boom, saying that gave them an advantage by allowing them to see the scope of influence that posting online can provide. It also helped them feel comfortable leaning into the sometimes more pointed or irreverent tone that works on a platform like X.

Consider the two other assemblymembers besides Bryan who are still using their state accounts: Michelle Rodriguez and Jacqui Irwin. Irwin, who is 63 and also represents Los Angeles, has mostly used her account of late to post wildfire-related PSA content to her 6,000 followers. Meanwhile, Rodriguez, who is 58, only has 84 followers. She still posts on occasion, mostly traditional posts like tributes to local firefighters and graphics marking holidays. She told SFGATE that “the minute I choose one social media platform over another is a disservice to the people I represent.”