With Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, many Twitter users are turning to alternative platforms like Mastodon , technology analysts say. Whether it is the user's choice to stay with Twitter or to switch to another platform, many details about the instability of digital information systems, which have not been revealed so far, are being revealed in this situation.
The Twitter company recently decided to suspend the Twitter accounts of several international journalists. A number of international organizations, including the United Nations and the European Union, Human Rights Watch, had expressed their views on that decision. Those organizations have also warned that the Twitter company will have to face serious consequences in the future due to such activities.
The European Union says sanctions aimed at Twitter are on the way, after Elon Musk decided to suspend the accounts of several prominent Twitter journalists for allegedly violating the company's policies.
With Elon Musk buying Twitter, many Twitter users are turning to alternative platforms – www.foxbusiness.com
Parsila Kayo leaving Twitter
When a user deletes their Twitter account, there has been a conversation about the disappearance of all the information including the Twitter messages they posted and the messages they forwarded to other users from those accounts. According to surveys, approximately 1 million users have left the Twitter app since the day Musk bought the company. There are allegations that all the information including the messages they posted have disappeared along with it.
Experts in the field of information technology point out that it is up to the users to decide whether to use an application or not, but the above fact revealed in the case of the Twitter application reveals a serious weakness in digital information systems. They point out that the risk of an instant disappearance of information that could have been accessed by a person, and perhaps even belonged to them, is a serious problem.
Results of an online survey of Twitter leavers - www.digitalinformationworld.com
Fading information
There is no problem with denying someone else the ability to access a user's personal information. But this is a serious situation when it comes to parties such as governments, political parties, global organizations, non-governmental organizations, artists and companies. Sometimes governments, political parties, international organizations and companies use the Twitter platform to issue their official announcements. There are many instances where political parties publicize their policies through Twitter. People like artists and writers post on Twitter to promote their work.
In such a background, can you imagine the problematic situation that will arise if the Twitter application is completely broken and the accounts belonging to the above-mentioned parties are deleted? In such a case, no one has the ability or opportunity to consult any of their posts or use them in any legal matter. The content of private accounts, however, would be the origin of a number of serious problems if governments, political parties and international organizations were to delete the information contained in their Twitter accounts.
Governments and public bodies use the Twitter platform to issue their official announcements – www.twitter.com
Digital archives
"I have been dealing with such problems for a long time. As a result, I started an online archive 25 years ago. Anyone can access various documents published on the Internet from the mid-1990s to now through that archive. Collaborating with nearly 1,000 libraries around the world, it stores presidential tweets, digital copies of culturally significant documents and books, copies of television programs and documentaries, and much more.” A person who runs an online archive noted.
Expert opinion
In 2010, Twitter was working with a research library that officially serves the United States Congress to develop a program to preserve old Twitter messages. It was proposed to prepare a digital information preservation program under that program, but due to various reasons, the program has not been implemented since 2017. It is said that the reasons for this were the difficulties in obtaining the necessary funds to run digital libraries and various legal situations. Nor does it appear that Twitter's new management is working to develop such a program.
"It is unclear what kind of steps Musk will take in this regard, but it is not possible to leave a program for the preservation of digital heritage to one company or individual and remain silent. Users have the ability to purchase a copy of a book or other hard document even after many years or to photocopy an existing copy. Similarly, digital documents should provide opportunities for users to refer to something repeatedly. National and international policies should be prepared for that. This situation with Twitter highlights the need for such policies ," another expert told foreign media.
Twitter has been working with a library that officially serves the United States Congress to archive Twitter messages - www.nytimes.com
Has Musk been Trumpified?
Many have accused Musk of running Twitter since the day he bought it to resemble the way former President Donald Trump ran the United States. They point out that Musk is not fit to own Twitter just as Trump is not fit to be president. A former top executive at the company has reportedly fled his home with his family due to threats amid accusations that Musk is ruthless and vindictive, and that Twitter employees have faced a dark period under him. .
Some say that it is very dangerous for Musk as the owner of Twitter to have several times more power (within the company) than Trump had in governing the country. They say Musk's unplanned approach is very similar to Trump's presidency. They point out that Musk may soon destroy Twitter completely, or turn it into an unbalanced far-right platform, just as Trump's visionary policies have led the United States to decline.
Some point out that Musk is unfit to own Twitter just as Trump was unfit to be president – www.wired.com
Musk tangles with journalists
The Twitter company, its new administration and Musk had recently suspended the Twitter accounts of several journalists belonging to several major media organizations including the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN. The accounts were suspended for allegedly revealing live information about the whereabouts of Musk and his family members. A number of parties have expressed critical comments about the suspension of the respective accounts.
German media organizations and the German Foreign Office have demanded clarification on the bans, and the European Union has threatened sanctions against Twitter. Elon Musk had said in response that these suspensions were due to an incident related to the pursuit of his private jets.
The German Foreign Office on Friday posted screenshots of the accounts of the journalists suspended by Twitter on its Twitter feed, and said through the social media platform that the suspension of their accounts was unacceptable.
Twitter account suspension threatens press freedom – techcrunch.com
Suspension of Twitter accounts is a threat to media freedom
Frederike Kaltheuner, director of technology and human rights at Human Rights Watch, says that suspending journalists' Twitter accounts is a threat to press freedom.
"Twitter has suspended the social media platforms of several journalists, threatening the freedom of the press. We see it as another worrying move for the company under new owner Elon Musk. Its variations can best be described as an unordered mess of human rights. We see that decisions to moderate content and suspend accounts have far-reaching consequences for people's rights and security. We have already seen that the implementation of violence on Twitter can lead to violence. It disproportionately impacts already marginalized communities," says Frederike Kaltheuner.
Twitter has temporarily removed Spaces, its group chat audio feature, after Elon Musk joined a group chat that included journalists whose Twitter accounts had been banned. Elon Musk later updated that the temporary Spaces ban had been lifted.
Exposure of live information about family members is a problem
Musk has not directly commented on the Twitter ban, but tweeted that he had “no problem criticizing me all day long. However, there is a problem with exposing live information about my and my family members' whereabouts.” It was said.
Another tweet said that the accounts of people who post information about the whereabouts of a person will be temporarily suspended for a period of seven days. "The rules that apply to everyone will also apply to journalists," he said.
Musk's recent tweets – www.twitter.com
Sanctions against Twitter?
United Nations Global Communications Secretary Melissa Fleming also commented on the suspension of journalists' Twitter accounts. She said that she was deeply disturbed to hear about the suspension of journalists' accounts in this manner. She mentioned that freedom of the press is a very important part of a democratic society and that the media plays a very important role in the fight against harmful and bad information.
A European Union Commissioner, Vera Jurova, has also commented on the suspension of journalists' accounts. She mentioned that sanctions will be imposed against the Twitter company under the Act on New Digital Services in force in European countries.
"Musk should know there are red lines, sanctions will be imposed quickly." She mentioned. In a message issued by the German Federal Foreign Office, "Media freedom is not something that can be turned on and off from time to time."
EU warns of sanctions against Twitter - www.twitter.com
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