BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology is pleading for stricter regulations for the short message service Twitter to be examined. "With great concern" it has "taken 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. The letter is dated Tuesday and is available to Deutsche Presse-Agentur in Berlin. Criticism also came from the chairwoman of the Economic Wise Men and the Monopolies Commission.

The Brussels authority should therefore carry out the necessary checks as quickly as possible to designate Twitter as a "gatekeeper" under the Digital Markets Act, Giegold wrote to EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton. "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 acquired Twitter with other investors in October, he made a series of controversial decisions. Last week, he temporarily blocked the user accounts of some U.S. journalists. Musk's plan to no longer allow users to advertise their presence on certain competitor platforms in the future triggered further anger. Musk then promised to also put major changes to the guidelines to a vote in the future. After Twitter users voted by a majority in favor of his resignation in a poll Musk initiated, he announced he would step down when a successor was found.

"Terms and conditions that change almost hourly, erratic justifications for far-reaching restrictions on linking and the blocking of journalists' accounts not only threaten freedom of competition, but pose a risk to democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of information and freedom of the press," Giegold wrote. He also said he would "encourage" the EU Commission to consider competition law proceedings against Twitter for abuse of a dominant position if Twitter again impedes competition by permanently and systematically banning links to other social media platforms.

Criticism also came from the chairwoman of the economic experts, Monika Schnitzer. "The example of Twitter impressively shows how problematic and even dangerous it is when a single person controls a company that has such a major influence on shaping public opinion," she told Handelsblatt. In the case of Twitter, she said, it is a matter of a "dominant market position" in a market "where the greatest care is necessary because great damage can demonstrably be caused by misinformation."

Therefore, in Schnitzer's view, an after-the-fact review of abuses of market power is not enough. Instead, the "ex ante rules" of EU regulations on digital markets must be used to strengthen competition, he said. In addition, Schnitzer said, regulation must ensure that the platform is not abused for manipulative purposes.

The chairman of the Monopolies Commission, Jürgen Kühling, also sees a need for action. "The highly irritating behavior of Elon Musk and the Twitter company in recent days is cause for great concern," he told the Handelsblatt newspaper. EU regulations for digital groups must now prove themselves and be adjusted if necessary, he added. "Platforms like Twitter are of such great relevance to democracy that they cannot be controlled by arbitrary house rules," Kühling stressed./hrz/als/DP/stw