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Germany on Twitter suspensions: 'We have a problem, @Twitter'

Published 12/16/2022, 05:25 AM
Updated 12/16/2022, 07:16 AM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Figurines with smartphones and computers are seen in front of the Twitter logo in this illustration, November 28, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Figurines with smartphones and computers are seen in front of the Twitter logo in this illustration, November 28, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

By Thomas Escritt

BERLIN (Reuters) -The German Foreign Office tweeted screenshots on Friday of the accounts of journalists suspended by Twitter, warning the platform that the ministry had a problem with moves that jeapordised press freedom.

Twitter suspended the accounts of several prominent journalists who had posted about its new owner Elon Musk, prompting protests from their media organisations.

"Press freedom cannot be switched on and off on a whim," the ministry wrote on its official Twitter account. "The journalists below can no longer follow us, comment and criticise. We have a problem with that, @Twitter."

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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.

A government spokesperson later told a regular news conference that the government was monitoring developments on the Twitter platform with growing concern.

Twitter also suspended the Mastodon network's account and attempts to link to Mastodon accounts in tweets frequently triggered error messages on Friday.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A view of the Twitter logo at its corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California, U.S. November 18, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Mastodon's new user registrations soared to as high as 4,000 an hour on Friday morning, four times the rate seen over the past week. But with some 8.5 million registered users, Mastodon is still a minnow compared to Twitter with half a billion users.

A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also responded to questions about the journalists' suspensions, saying social media platforms had to balance protection of users with preservation of free speech.

Latest comments

The reporter was tweeting elons private location which endangered his family. I would have sued him, not only banned him.
Where these j erks when trump was banned
I can see no post from German Foreign Office on Twitter since Wednesday. A link would have been nice
shutting down journalists that oppose putin, I mean musk is a communist tactic! is musk a communist putin sympathizer like trump?
At least he is a human...
The only one speaking facts here. Good stuff.
You might want to look into this story more. of course then you'll see just how much fake news is out there. This guy Jack Sweeney was posting PRIVATE information. Elon had a PIA on his Jet so that he couldn't be found. Sweeney cracked the code and was posting that information daily. I'm surprised Elon didn't ban him sooner. That is doxxing and it's literally in the TOS of Twitter.
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