Berlin criticizes Twitter, ‘press freedom problem’
“Freedom of the press cannot be turned on and off at will. The journalists below can no longer follow, comment and criticize us either. We have a problem with this, Twitter”. The official profile of the German Foreign Ministry writes it on the same social network, publishing the screenshots of eight profiles recently suspended by Twitter after criticizing the new owner Elon Musk.
At today’s government press conference in Berlin, the deputy government spokesperson Christian Hoffmann confirmed that the executive is “viewing” the Twitter situation with some “growing concern“, including the latest developments regarding the “American journalists“. The spokesman stressed that the government is wondering about the consequences of what is happening, but has not yet taken any decision on the case. The Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed the content of the tweet, saying that “freedom of the press is an asset” and must be “defended by both states and private individuals”. The spokesman then recalled that the ministry already has an account on the social network Mastodon. Both the government spokesman and a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice confirmed that the executive continues to be in contact with the Twitter company as usual.