Concerns were raised about the government account’s potential dangers to free press. Photo illustration by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Twitter was warned by the German Foreign Office about suspending journalist accounts.
According to the German Foreign Office, it is problematic that certain journalists were suspended from the platform.
Twitter suspended accounts of several journalists who reported on Elon Musk, the new owner of the platform, on Thursday. The journalists are reporters from prominent news outlets like CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Musk claimed that the suspensions were due to an earlier ban on an account managed by a college student who tracks his private plane. Musk has complained about the account sharing his “live position,” which is against Twitter’s updated privacy policies. This is despite jet-tracking data being publicly available.
The German Foreign Office tweeted screenshots from some of the accounts of suspended journalists: “As of today the journalists below cannot follow, comment, or criticize us.” We have a problem @Twitter
The free press must not be turned on or off at will, it said.
Wolfgang Buechner, deputy spokesperson for the country, stated in a separate tweet that “Arbitrary locking journalists’ accounts was unacceptable.” I will be leaving this platform if this trend continues. You can find me at Mastodon.
A top official of the European Union warned Elon Musk Friday about possible Twitter sanctions. This was in response to what it called an “arbitrary suspension” of journalists by the platform.
Vera Jourova is the EU’s vice president for values and transparency. She also stated that the suspensions were “worrying” as well as that there were “redlines.”
Insider reached out to Twitter representatives for comment but they did not respond immediately.
Business Insider has the original article.
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By: bnolan@insider.com (Beatrice Nolan)
Title: Germany heavily criticizes Elon Musk’s Twitter for suspending journalists, saying the free press ‘must not be switched on and off at will’
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/germany-twitter-elon-musk-european-union-journalist-suspensions-2022-12
Published Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2022 13:43:31 +0000
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