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Senior German government official calls for putting Twitter under supervision of the European Commission

A high-level German official called late last week, according to Reuters, that Twitter will be controlled directly by the European Commissionas it has already done with other big tech companies, because its erratic measures after becoming the property of Elon Musk are a threat to free speech.

The person who has made this request is Sven Giegold, State Secretary for Competition Policy at the German Ministry of Economics. Giegold has given as reasons for this request the sudden suspension of several journalist accounts that Elon Musk made a few days ago, as well as the restrictions that he placed on the social network to access some links.

Giegold has sent a letter to two European commissioners, in which he requests that the European Union open an investigation in this regard, and has indicated that the Commission should act to prevent what he has described as “anti-competitive behavior” by Twitter. He also notes that “General terms and conditions that change almost hourly, erratic justifications for extensive link restrictions, and the blocking of journalists threaten free competition and pose a risk to freedom of expression, information, and the press.«.

From the European Commission they confirm that they have received the letter and that they would answer it in due form and time. In addition, they have added that they are closely following the events that are taking place on Twitter.

The purchase of Twitter by Musk, who has indicated that he will cease to be the CEO of the social network when, literally, “find someone naive enough to fill the position“She has been involved in the case and controversy for months. Not only because of the large amount that he invested in the operation, 44,000 million dollars, but also because of how Musk has behaved after taking the reins from him. Beyond the successive waves of dismissals of the vast majority of its staff, their statements, the elimination of functions such as their area dedicated to sending the Revue newsletter, have aroused outrage among users of the social network and institutions and organizations of all kinds. .

Thus, the changes to Twitter’s privacy policy made by Musk this December, and the suspension and subsequent reinstatement of the accounts of several journalists if they deleted certain tweets, have aroused the indignation and condemnation of numerous organizations dedicated to journalism. as well as activist groups and EU officials and officials.

The Government of the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, had already indicated a few weeks ago that it was monitoring the development of events on the social network with growing concern. And German regulators are already putting pressure on government institutions to stop announcing their news and offering information exclusively through private platforms, exploring other alternatives, such as the decentralized social network Mastodon.

According to the new regulations on digital markets of the European Commission, it will assume the supervision of the big platforms, such as Facebook and Google, according to Giegold, but “however, Twitter is not yet classified as a dominant digital platform, also because the company’s sales are still too low. But Twitter exerts a great influence on the formation of opinion throughout the world, and also, therefore, in Europe.«.

For its part, the European Commission has ensured that it was working quickly on the implementation of the new regulations on digital markets, noting that “When it comes to Twitter and the latest developments, the power of the big platforms over public discourse needs safeguards so that fundamental rights are effectively protected.«.

Echoing what Giegold points out, the Commission has also said that some companies could be classified as “gatekeepers” of information, and therefore be affected by the new Commission regulations, “based on a qualitative assessment, even if it does not arrive at the quantitative data necessary for it«.

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