Elon Musk 's decision to suspend the Twitter accounts of major journalists covering technology issues is causing strong reactions in Europe .
The German government issued a warning about the impact on press freedom, while a senior European Union official said Twitter must comply with the rules or face possible sanctions.
“ Press freedom cannot be turned on and off at will ,” the German Foreign Ministry wrote . “ As of today, these journalists are no longer able to follow us, comment or criticize. We have a problem with that .”
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Věra Jourová, European Commission vice-president for values and transparency, said the suspension of accounts without a specific reason was "worrying" and said the company could face sanctions as a result.
“The EU Digital Services Act requires respect for media freedom and fundamental rights. This is reinforced under the #MediaFreedomAct,” said in a Twitter post, adding that Elon Musk, the platform’s new owner, “should know this.”
“There are red lines,” he continued. “And sanctions, soon.”
On Thursday night, Twitter banned the accounts of several high-profile journalists from leading news organizations without explanation. They include CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, the New York Times' Ryan Mac, and the Washington Post's Drew Harwell.
Musk claimed that the journalists had violated his new doxxing policy by sharing his location, which he said amounted to providing “murder coordinates.” Doxxing is the posting of personal information online . Violating this policy results in a seven-day temporary suspension .
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According to CNN International, journalist O’Sullivan never shared Elon Musk’s live location.
Mr Musk tweeted about the suspensions: “The same doxxing rules apply to ‘journalists’ as to everyone else.”
Shortly before his account was suspended, O'Sullivan reported on Twitter that the social media company had suspended the account of an emerging rival social media service, Mastodon.
Additionally, Twitter on Wednesday morning suspended the account @ElonJet, an account that posts the location of Musk’s private jet. The account, @ElonJet , was run by Florida college student Jack Sweeney and had amassed more than half a million followers. It tracked the location of Elon Musk ’s plane using publicly available flight data
Several journalists were mentioned in this news.
Every step of Elon Musk draws everyone's attention since he took the helm of Twitter.
European leaders previously said they were watching how Musk's acquisition of Twitter would affect the platform.
Thierry Breton, a top EU official, warned Elon Musk in late November that the social media platform must take significant steps to comply with EU laws on content moderation.
“Twitter should implement transparent user policies, significantly strengthen content moderation and protect free speech, tackle disinformation with determination and limit targeted advertising,” Breton said at the time. “All of this requires sufficient artificial intelligence and human resources, both in volume and skills. I look forward to progress in all these areas and we will come to assess Twitter’s readiness.”
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EU sanctions could be implemented under a new digital services law, which is currently in the European Parliament but could come into force by next year.
Under the terms of the proposed new law, the EU Commission would be allowed to impose fines of up to 6% of the global turnover of a company it deems to be breaking its rules.
In extreme cases, the EU could ask a court to suspend a service, but only if it “refuses to comply with important obligations and thereby endangers the lives and safety of people.”
