The International Federation of Journalists (FIP), the largest entity in the sector worldwide, considered on Tuesday that the purchase of Twitter by businessman Elon Musk represents a threat to press freedom.
The operation, which has already received the green light from the board of directors of the social network, “threatens pluralism and freedom of the press, and creates fertile ground for disinformation“said the Federation, which represents some 600,000 journalists through 187 unions and associations in 146 countries.
Musk, CEO of the electric car maker Tesla and the aerospace group Space X, “is known for having long criticized Twitter’s content moderation policies and has repeatedly called for the social network to be less regulated,” the IFJ said in a statement.
“The acquisition of Twitter, which has more than 400 million users worldwide, means that it will now be owned by a single person instead of several shareholders,” the federation stressed.
The entity criticized in particular Musk’s desire to authenticate users of the social networkfor estimating that the absence of anonymity “would seriously undermine the protection (…) of many journalists and sources around the world.”
The IFJ also fears that less content moderation could “increase disinformation and threaten the quality journalism“.
The Twitter space must be “duly moderated, respecting the freedom of expression. It’s a delicate balance that any Twitter owner needs to be careful about,” IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said in the statement.
“We are concerned that Musk’s plans for Twitter are going in the wrong direction, increasing opportunities to target journalists and threatening users’ anonymity,” he added.