How is Twitter changing under Musk? Several US journalists report on it, but then no longer have access to their accounts on the platform. The Federal Foreign Office sees freedom of the press in danger here. There is still no decision on the potential Twitter exit.
The federal government is critical of the blocking of several journalist accounts on Twitter. “Freedom of the press must not be switched on and off at will,” says a tweet from the Federal Foreign Office. “As of today, the journalists below can no longer follow, comment and criticize us,” the ministry wrote, linking screenshots of several of the blocked accounts. “We have a problem with that @Twitter.”
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann also expressed his dissatisfaction. “Alot about
Deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner wrote a “personal note” on Twitter and wrote: “The arbitrary blocking of journalist accounts on @Twitter is unacceptable. If this development continues, I will leave this platform.” Büchner referred to his account with Twitter competitor Mastodon and added that the federal government already had an account there.
Deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann did not want to comment on the question under what circumstances the federal government would end its Twitter presence today, Friday. “No threshold” has been set and there is no “catalog of red lines,” she said in Berlin. However, the government is observing what is happening around Twitter “very closely” and asking itself “what consequences we can draw from it”. Decisions have not yet been made. The government is “noting with growing concern” what is “doing on Twitter,” said Hoffmann. This also applies to “the latest developments in relation to American journalists”.
Twitter had previously blocked the accounts of several journalists covering the US company and its new boss, Elon Musk. More than half a dozen media workers were affected. Twitter gave no reason for the suspensions. Those affected work for well-known media such as CNN, the “New York Times” and the “Washington Post”.
