EU threatens Musk with sanctions after Twitter suspends journalists
Twitter on Thursday controversially suspended the accounts of a number of high-profile journalists, many of whom cover both the platform and its new owner, Elon Musk.
Though Musk has suggested the suspensions were a result of a new platform policy, under which users are forbidden from posting another user's "live location information," those impacted have pushed back on that claim, maintaining they weren't in violation of the rules and that Musk is simply punishing accounts he doesn't like.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying," Vera Jourova, the European Commission's vice president for values and transparency, tweeted Friday. "EU's Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights."
"@elonmusk should be aware of that," Jourova added. "There are red lines. And sanctions, soon."
Earlier this week, Twitter permanently suspended @elonjet, an automated account that posted publicly available flight information for Musk's private jet. At least one of the reporters impacted Thursday evening — CNN's Donnie O'Sullivan — had tweeted about the account's continued operation on rival social media platform Mastodon shortly before his suspension.
But others, like independent reporter Aaron Rupar, told Insider he never shared anything related to @elonjet, leaving him to believe his suspension was related to "something critical I posted of Elon."
"Freedom of the press cannot be switched on and off as you please," Germany's foreign ministry tweeted Friday, per CNN. "As of today these journalists are no longer able to follow us, to comment or criticize. We have a problem with that @Twitter."
-
5 cinematic cartoons about Bezos betting big on 'Melania'Cartoons Artists take on a girlboss, a fetching newspaper, and more
-
The fall of the generals: China’s military purgeIn the Spotlight Xi Jinping’s extraordinary removal of senior general proves that no-one is safe from anti-corruption drive that has investigated millions
-
Why the Gorton and Denton by-election is a ‘Frankenstein’s monster’Talking Point Reform and the Greens have the Labour seat in their sights, but the constituency’s complex demographics make messaging tricky
-
Moltbook: the AI social media platform with no humans allowedThe Explainer From ‘gripes’ about human programmers to creating new religions, the new AI-only network could bring us closer to the point of ‘singularity’
-
Will regulators put a stop to Grok’s deepfake porn images of real people?Today’s Big Question Users command AI chatbot to undress pictures of women and children
-
Australia’s teen social media ban takes effectSpeed Read Kids under age 16 are now barred from platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Reddit
-
Inside a Black community’s fight against Elon Musk’s supercomputerUnder the radar Pollution from Colossal looms over a small Southern town, potentially exacerbating health concerns
-
X update unveils foreign MAGA boostersSpeed Read The accounts were located in Russia and Nigeria, among other countries
-
Google avoids the worst in antitrust rulingSpeed Read A federal judge rejected the government's request to break up Google
-
Supreme Court allows social media age check lawSpeed Read The court refused to intervene in a decision that affirmed a Mississippi law requiring social media users to verify their ages
-
What's Linda Yaccarino's legacy? And what's next for X?Today's Big Question An 'uncertain future' in the age of TikTok
