The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Twitter arbitrariness by Elon Musk: Ministry of Commerce wants stricter requirements

2022-12-22T06:54:18.173Z


Elon Musk's behavior on Twitter not only scares users away, but also calls German politics into action. The Federal Ministry of Economics is asking the EU Commission to examine stricter requirements for the company.


Enlarge image

Portrait of Elon Musk in front of Twitter logos: concern in the federal government

Photo: DADO RUVIC / REUTERS

The lurching course and Elon Musk's destructive decisions on Twitter could also have regulatory consequences for the group in Europe.

The Federal Ministry of Economics advocates examining stricter conditions for the short message service.

"It was with great concern that he took note of Twitter's platform regulations, their abrupt changes and arbitrary application," writes State Secretary Sven Giegold (Greens) in a letter to the EU Commission, quoted by the dpa news agency.

In his letter to EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, Giegold writes that the Brussels authorities should carry out the necessary checks as quickly as possible in order to designate Twitter as a “gatekeeper” within the meaning of the Digital Markets Act.

Gatekeepers are companies with a particularly strong market position that meet a number of criteria.

They are subject to special requirements, such as restrictions on the handling of users' personal data.

The Digital Markets Act will be applicable from May next year.

After tech billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter alongside other investors in October, he made a series of controversial decisions.

In the past week he temporarily blocked the user accounts of some US journalists.

Musk's plan to no longer allow users to advertise their presence on certain competing platforms triggered further anger.

Musk then promised to also put major policy changes to the vote in the future.

Musk wants to step down as CEO of Twitter

After a majority of Twitter users voted in favor of his resignation in a poll initiated by Musk, he announced his retirement if a successor was found.

"General terms and conditions that change almost every hour, erratic justifications for extensive restrictions on links and the blocking of journalists' accounts not only threaten freedom of competition, but also pose a risk to democracy, freedom of opinion, information and the press," wrote Giegold.

He also wants to "encourage" the EU Commission to examine competition law proceedings against Twitter for abuse of a dominant position if Twitter should again impede competition by permanently and systematically prohibiting links to other social media platforms.

mmq/dpa

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2022-12-22

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-15T17:12:47.444Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.