Twitter should join other tech companies in being directly supervised by the European Commission, a top German official said on Thursday, saying that the company’s erratic behavior under new owner Elon Musk posed a threat to free expression.
Germany’s economy ministry’s state secretary for competition policy, Sven Giegold, cited Twitter’s sudden termination of journalists’ accounts and limitations on access to particular links.
Giegold urged the EU to start a probe and said the Commission should take action to stop what he called Twitter’s “anti-competitive behavior” in a letter to two European Commissioners.
Requests for comment from Twitter did not immediately receive a response. The European Commission acknowledged receiving the letter and stated that it will respond as soon as possible. It also stated that it was closely monitoring Twitter’s progress.
“General terms and conditions that change almost every hour, erratic justifications for extensive restrictions on links and the blocking of journalists threaten freedom of competition and pose a risk to freedom of expression, information and the press,” Giegold wrote on Twitter, while sharing his letter.
Musk announced his resignation as Twitter’s CEO on Tuesday.
Chaos and controversy have followed his $44 billion takeover in October. The suspension and reactivation of journalist accounts, as well as changes to Twitter’s privacy policy, were denounced by news outlets, advocacy groups, and government leaders across Europe in December.
The administration of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz previously declared that it was keeping a close eye on events at the social media firm with growing concern.
German regulators are already pushing government institutions to stop posting announcements exclusively to privately-held platforms, touting alternatives like the fledgling decentralised social media network Mastodon.
According to the Commission’s new regulations on digital markets, it will take over the supervision of large platforms such as Facebook and Google, Giegold said.
“However, Twitter is not yet classified as a dominant digital platform, also because the company’s sales are still too low,” he said. “Nevertheless, Twitter exerts a great influence on shaping public opinion worldwide and also in Europe.”
The European Commission also said that it was working quickly to implement the new regulations on digital markets, adding: “As regards Twitter and the latest developments: The power of the big platforms over public discourse needs necessary safeguards so that fundamental rights are effectively protected.”
Echoing Giegold’s remarks, the Commission said that some companies could be classified as “gatekeepers” of information – and therefore fall under the Commission’s new regulations – “on the basis of a qualitative assessment, even if it does not meet the quantitative thresholds.”
Reuters
