Elon Musk's Twitter Could Face Sanctions With Fines Worth Billions After Suspension of Journalists, European Union Warns

The United Nations and European Union are condemning Twitter after its CEO Elon Musk decided to ban several journalists from the social media platform.

The United Nations tweeted that freedom of expression and freedom of the press "are fundamental rights." UN'S undersecretary-general for global communications, Melissa Fleming, said she was "deeply disturbed" by reports of the arbitrary suspension.

Fleming noted that media freedom "is not a toy," adding that freedom of the press is the foundation of "democratic societies and a key tool in the fight against harmful disinformation."

A Twitter spokesman noted that the bans of the journalists from the social media platform were related to the live sharing of location data. Suspended journalist Matt Binder of the tech news outlet Mashable told BBC that he did not know why he was banned.

Binder noted that he has been very critical of Musk in his reporting. However, he refuted claims that the journalist got suspended for "doxxing" real-time location info of Musk's private jet.

Binder said he had never tweeted a hyperlink to the billionaire's jet flights. He noted that the people, who were suspended, were handpicked as "there are literally hundreds of accounts per minute who tweeted" the jet tracker link.

European Union on Twitter Journalists' Suspension

The European Union on Friday warned Twitter with sanctions after several journalists, who have covered stories about the social media platform and its CEO Elon Musk, were locked out of their accounts.

Vera Jourova, the European Commission's vice president for values and transparency, tweeted that the "arbitrary suspension" of journalists on Twitter is worrying.

Jourova noted that Twitter can face sanctions under Europe's new Digital Services Act, which requires "the respect of media freedom and fundament rights." Violating the Digital Services Act could reportedly result in fines worth billions or be banned across the European Union.

"Elon Musk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon," Jourova noted.

The Digital Services Act mandates large platforms to minimize harm online, protect users' rights and issue transparency reports.

The banned journalists include CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, The New York Times' Ryan Mac, and The Washington Post's Drew Harwell, all of whom covered Musk extensively in recent weeks.

Musk had earlier suggested that the journalists violated Twitter's new "doxxing" policy. "Doxxing" means disclosing somebody's identity, address, or other personal details online.

Elon Musk Banned Journalists on Twitter

Hours after the journalists' suspension on Thursday night, Elon Musk engaged in a Twitter Space audio discussion before an audience of more than 30,000 listeners and faced one of the journalists he suspended.

Explaining his latest policy to the group, Musk said: "You doxx, you get suspended. End of story." The Twitter CEO referred to the social media platform's latest rule change about accounts that track private jets, including the one owned by Musk.

The audio discussion and Twitter's Spaces feature were abruptly shut down after Musk left the conversation. Musk then tweeted that they were "fixing a Legacy bug," and it "should be working tomorrow."

Musk previously said the "same doxxing rules apply to 'journalists' as to everyone else." He noted that the accounts banned posted "my exact real-time location, basically assassination coordinates, in (obvious) direct violation of Twitter terms of service."

He said, "criticizing him all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not." Musk then noted that the suspensions would last seven days.

Last month, Elon Musk tweeted that he would not ban the account that tracked his private jet flights. But on Wednesday, the @elonjet, an account dedicated to tracking the billionaire's private jet trips using public flight data, was suspended.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Twitter CEO Elon Musk: 'You dox, you get suspended' - From ABC News