Media reports that Twitter boss Elon Musk wants to make his tweets more visible and to influence the algorithmic control of users’ timelines have called the German supervisory authority responsible for the platform into action. The Bavarian State Center for New Media (BLM) is examining whether the manipulation of the algorithm, which is apparently planned or is already taking place, by means of a “range booster” violates the state media agreement (MStV). She wants to explore whether Musk’s orders violate the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in the law.
The US magazine “Platformer” drew attention to the “multiplier for power users”. Immediately after Musk’s tweet about the Super Bowl, which received little attention, the company owner asked the workforce to take countermeasures. The algorithm should therefore be “coiffed” in such a way that the tweets of the owner of the service regularly achieve the highest reach. The BLM therefore wants to keep an eye on whether this manipulation can also be observed on the German Twitter offshoot and whether the regulatory requirements for media portals with a mediation function are violated.
For political communication of “enormous importance”
In such a case, “the Media State Treaty with the ban on discrimination,” explained BLM President Thorsten Schmiege. This is intended to prevent certain journalistic-editorial content from being downgraded or prioritized in terms of its perceptibility. “Twitter is of enormous importance, especially for political communication,” emphasized Schmiege Ensuring free democratic dialogue is a task that the media authorities “take very seriously” in view of the increasing importance of social media and comparable platforms.
After the first probing the BLM wants to decidewhether to initiate official supervisory proceedings by the media authorities for discrimination under Section 94 MStV. If the guards determine a violation of the provisions, remedial measures such as “in particular complaints, prohibition, blocking, withdrawal and revocation” are provided according to paragraph 109. The MStV does not contain an option to impose sanctions such as fines of up to four percent of annual sales under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). A BLM spokeswoman told heise online that Twitter could face a financial fine of up to 500,000 euros if it found a violation of Section 94 MStV.
The grace period is over
Almost a year ago, the federal states announced that they wanted to enforce the requirements more strictly after a grace period. It is about strengthening the trust of users in the functioning of digital intermediaries, for example with specifications on transparency and the ban on discrimination. With Twitter, it is in principle possible to switch the timeline from the start page cured by the algorithm to “latest tweets”. Then notifications, for example, from users who have followed them, are imported in a purely time-controlled manner.
According to a study by the media authorities published in 2022, social media services are the most important source of information for political messages for 43 percent of those surveyed. The relevance of the Internet for finding out about current affairs has therefore increased primarily among younger people. The phenomenon that applies to Twitter is that the social importance of the network for political discussions between activists, journalists, politicians and citizens unfolds above all outside the platform. So it is having an impact on the classic media. For the BLM, this shows, for example, “how crucial Twitter can be in an election campaign”.
(mki)
