Not a toy, Eelz
UN and EU tell Elon Musk ok now you’re pissing us off:
The United Nations has joined the European Union in condemning Twitter’s decision to suspend some journalists who cover the social media firm.
Reporters for the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post were among those locked out of their accounts.
The UN tweeted that media freedom is “not a toy” while the EU has threatened Twitter with sanctions.
This is the thing, you see: Twitter isn’t just an annoying social media item for kids, it’s also a de facto news outlet, and a quite significant one. That’s why I keep ignoring it when one of you reminds us that Twitter is dummm.
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 fundamental rights. Elon Musk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon,” she added.
He’ll probably ban them all from Twitter.
His “commitment to free speech” was always, laughably, only to his own. (He has also now banned from the platform the kid who was tweeting the location of his personal aircraft in real time, even after specifically saying that he was SO COMMITTED to free speech that he would never ban him.)
While I realize Twitter is a de facto news outlet, and for some, the only source of their news. I realize this. I also realize it should not be.