United Nations, European Union Slam Twitter Over ‘Worrying’ Ban On Journalists

As if things at Twitter HQ aren’t already making enough news, the United Nations (UN) has joined the European Union (EU) in condemning the social network’s decision to suspend journalists who covered the company and its new chief, Elon Musk. 

Reporters from established publications, including the New York Times, CNN, and the Washington Post, had found themselves locked out of their accounts without prior warning. However, the site insisted the bans were due to the “live sharing of location data.” 

Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem as though anyone’s buying the excuse, with the UN directly tweeting that media freedom was “not a toy” and the EU even going so far as to threaten Twitter with sanctions for its actions. 

Vera Jourová, Vice-President for Values and Transparency in the EU Commission, said the news about the arbitrary suspension of journalists on the platform was “worrying” and that the organization’s Digital Services Acts “requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights.” 

“This is reinforced under our #MediaFreedomAct. @ElonMusk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon,” she added. 

As per CNN, Germany’s Foreign Ministry weighed in with its concerns on how Musk’s move to silence reporters could affect press freedom, while a spokesperson for the UN said that the company was setting “a dangerous precedent” when it came to freedom of news worldwide.

Musk’s claim that the journalists had violated the new “doxxing” policy has been proven false, considering the publication’s journalist Donie O’Sullivan had never shared his live location data, which he had referred to as “assassination coordinates.” 

The billionaire has yet to issue a full explanation for the matter, opting instead to go through his usual route of Twitter polls to decide what to do next, asking followers if he should restore the accounts “now” or “in seven days.”

[via BBC and CNN, cover image via Vadimrysev | Dreamstime.com]