X to Shut Down Communities on May 6: 'Too Much Spam', Announces Transition to XChat

The management of X has set the definitive date for the discontinuation of Communities: on May 6, 2026, the feature will officially be terminated. The decision, confirmed by product head Nikita Bier, stems from a merciless analysis of usage and internal security data. Despite the service being utilized by a small niche of the user base (less than 0.4%), these sections generated 80% of the total reports related to spam, financial scams, and malware.

"We're going to be investing heavily in XChat. Communities had a great vision, but they were used by less than 0.4% of users—yet contributed to 80% of spam reports, financial scams, and malware on X. It occupied half the team's time some weeks, while the rest of the app suffered."
-- Nikita Bier (@nikitabier)
April 23, 2026

Bier described an unsustainable situation for the platform's operational management. In several weeks, issues related to Communities absorbed more than half of the development team's work time, diverting valuable resources away from improving the rest of the X ecosystem. The executive's criticism was sharp, defining the feature as a "Temu version of Reddit," highlighting how the few successful groups were actually user acquisition channels for external platforms like Kick or spaces dedicated to paid 'clippers' communities.

X Closes Communities: Spam Data Condemns the Feature

The future of group messaging on X now shifts towards XChat. Current Community administrators have received an extension until May 30, 2026, to manage the transition of their members. There are two options on the table: migrate the conversation threads to the new internal chat platform or move the entire user base to third-party services. To facilitate this transition, XChat has already implemented support for participation links.

This new architecture allows administrators to generate direct links to share on their Timeline, simplifying access to the groups. From a technical standpoint, XChat groups currently support a maximum of 500 members, but Bier has already confirmed the extension of the limit to 1,000 users in the coming weeks. The goal is to bring thematic content back into the main Timeline or into more controlled direct conversations.

The messaging relaunch plan also includes the development of an app dedicated exclusively to XChat, separate from the main client. This move suggests a willingness to compete more aggressively in the group instant messaging sector, trying to retain those users who currently prefer vertical solutions. However, the issue of moderation remains open. If Communities were closed due to the inability to curb spam and scams, it is still unclear what specific countermeasures will be adopted on XChat to prevent the same toxic dynamics from re-emerging in the new groups, especially with the increase in membership capacity and the ease of access through public links.