A European Union official on Friday denounced Elon Musk for suspending several journalists from Twitter and warned the social media site’s billionaire owner, a self-described champion of free speech, that his attack on press freedom is likely to result in sanctions.
Taking to the platform, E.U. Commissioner for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová wrote: “News about [the] arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying. E.U.’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. This is reinforced under our Media Freedom Act. Elon Musk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon.”
In an attempt to justify his move, Musk claimed that the suspended journalists shared real-time details about his location. The Twitter CEO’s allegation stems from the journalists’ reporting on a recently suspended account that used publicly available data to track the movements of his private jet.
However, in the wake of the suspensions, which were imposed without notice or immediate explanation, The Washington Post reported that “none of the tweets from suspended reporters” that it reviewed “revealed the location of Musk or his family.”
Musk later argued that merely including a link to the flight-tracking account in the course of reporting amounts to a violation of Twitter’s newly amended policy against sharing a person’s “live location information.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a watchdog group that defends press freedom worldwide, said in a statement that “if confirmed as retaliation for their work,” Musk’s recent Twitter suspensions “would be a serious violation of journalists’ right to report the news without fear of reprisal.”
This is not the first time that E.U. officials have reminded Musk of the need to ensure that his Twitter operation adheres to the bloc’s rules.
Less than 24 hours after Musk purchased Twitter in a $44 billion deal, E.U. internal market commissioner Thierry Breton gave Musk what he called a “reality check.”
Breton told Musk that he must comply with the recently passed Digital Services Act, which aims to halt the online spread of hate speech and other illicit content, or risk substantial fines or a continent-wide ban.
“Elon, there are rules,” said Breton. “You are welcome but these are our rules. It’s not your rules which will apply here.”
A recent analysis revealed that Twitter has seen an unprecedented surge in hate speech since Musk took over.
