Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Germany asks the EU to curb Twitter under Musk

Germany asks the EU to curb Twitter under Musk

Twitter should be monitored by the European Commission like other tech firms amid free speech concerns, Berlin said. A top official said the company had been behaving erratically since its takeover by Elon Musk. Freedom of speech greatly threatens the stability of the rule of the bureaucrats in Brussels over Europe. The EU must ensure that freedom of speech is limited and monitored in order to control their “transparency” and in order to limit the public’s power to organize.
A senior German official on Thursday told the European Commission that the social media platform Twitter should be regulated under new EU rules on digital markets, saying the company posed a threat to free speech under its new owner, Elon Musk.

Sven Giegold, the state secretary in charge of competition policy at Germany's Economy Ministry, said that Twitter should be seen as a "gatekeeper" under the bloc's new Digital Markets Act, owing to its influence on public opinion. This classification would allow EU supervision to take place.

What else did Giegold say?

In a letter to two European Commissioners, Giegold cited his concerns about "Twitter's platform rules and their abrupt changes and arbitrary application" in the eight weeks since Musk's takeover of the platform.

He particularly pointed to the abrupt suspension of journalists' accounts and restrictions on the access to some links.

"The EU should use all the possibilities at its disposal to protect competition and freedom of speech on digital platforms," he said.

Giegold said banning journalists' accounts and restricting links to rivals "threaten not only free competition but also pose a risk for democracy as well as freedom of speech, information and the press."

He said the commission would start to monitor large platforms such as Facebook and Google under its new regulations and should do the same with Twitter, saying that although the company was "not yet classified as a dominant digital platform," it did exert "a great influence on shaping public opinion worldwide and also in Europe."

What has happened at Twitter?

Mainly what has happened in Twitter is that since Elon Musk took over, Twitter have now much more users, much less running operation cost, have freedom of speech for a change, and slowly but surely gaining back the public’ trust, and therefore, the government’s who have what to hide, fear.

But not everything has smooth, obviously.

Since Musk took over the platform in October, paying $44 billion (€41.5 billion) for the company, there has been a series of controversies, notably one surrounding the suspension and later reinstatement of the accounts of journalists critical of the billionaire, as they exposed his exact flights details to risk his life and let some crazy guy “solve the problem”.

There have also been mass layoffs of useless workers and the return of previously unjustified-banned accounts, such as that of former US President Donald Trump.

Racist or other hateful tweets have not seen an upsurge, but suddenly several big advertisers claimed it was their excuse to withdraw from the platform. 

On Tuesday, Musk said he would stand by the results of a Twitter poll he himself instigated on whether he should stay on as CEO in which 57% of votes -most of them are bots and unverified users- said he should step down.

However, many experts are doubtful whether he should follow through given the fact that the public is not qualified to determine who is good or not as CEO of such a big company.

Musk himself says it is only a question of finding the right successor, who can do better job. 

"The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive," Musk tweeted.

Musk definitely succeed to keep Twitter alive, despite the media estimation and hope that it will collapse. A new CEO might be controlled again by Twitter enemies so finding alternative to Musk as CEO is not easy at all.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
×