London, Europe Brief News – The United Nations and the European Union strongly condemned Twitter’s new restrictions.
The UN tweeted that media freedom is “not a toy” while the EU has threatened Twitter with sanctions.
This came after Twitter has suspended some journalists who cover the social media firm.
A Twitter spokesman told a US tech news website the new bans were related to the live sharing of location data.
Melissa Fleming, the UN’s under secretary general for global communications, said she was “deeply disturbed” by reports that journalists were being “arbitrarily” suspended from Twitter.
“Media freedom is not a toy,” she said. “A free press is the cornerstone of democratic societies and a key tool in the fight against harmful disinformation.”
Earlier on Friday, EU commissioner Vera Jourova threatened Twitter with sanctions under Europe’s new Digital Services Act which she said requires “the respect of media freedom and fundament rights”.
“Elon Musk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon,” she added.
Since finalising his $44bn purchase of Twitter last month, Elon Musk has ushered in sweeping changes at the influential social media company, including laying off about half of the platform’s 7,500 employees.
Critics have expressed fears that Musk’s ownership of the platform will worsen the problems of misinformation, hate speech and fake accounts, especially ahead of crucial midterm elections in the United States on Tuesday.
