NLower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil has criticized the Twitter platform and announced his departure from the network. “A lack of controls and verifications are increasingly leading to the spread of hate and hate speech, misinformation and conspiracy stories. I don’t have to be there,” said Monday on his Twitter account as Prime Minister. The user account will be deleted on Tuesday. So far, around 15,000 users have followed the Prime Minister on Twitter.
The State Chancellery explained that the SPD politician had been on hold since the beginning of November to await the development of the network after Elon Musk’s takeover. However, the new Twitter strategy was “apparently deliberately designed to avoid any control and to let the spread of “hate speech” run free under the guise of “free speech”. The Twitter account of the Lower Saxony state government will also be deleted for these reasons. The same applies to the Twitter account that Weil has been using for partisan politics, as a spokeswoman for the SPD said.
Image: Twitter/@MpStephanWeil
Weil, on the other hand, wants to remain active on Facebook and Instagram. In addition, a registration with the Twitter competitor Mastodon, which was developed in Germany, is currently being examined, his social media team announced on Twitter.
The country’s Interior Ministry has already deactivated its Twitter account until further notice in mid-November due to the current development of the network, as a spokeswoman said on request. Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) can still be found with a verified account on the platform, as can Economics Minister Olaf Lies (SPD). His ministry stated that the current situation was still being observed critically and that the ministerial account could be deactivated if necessary.
Spokesmen for Health Minister Daniela Behrens (SPD), Finance Minister Gerald Heere and Environment Minister Christian Meyer (both Green) said that these cabinet members would remain on Twitter with their private accounts for the time being.
The Ministry of Culture with Weil’s deputy Julia Willie Hamburg and the Ministry of Agriculture with Miriam Staudte (both Green) announced that they are currently examining how to proceed.
