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Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedinTopline Under a set of new digital rules, Twitter could face sanctions ranging from from billion-dollar fines to being banned across the European Union over suspending the Twitter accounts journalists who report on owner Elon Musk, an EU official warned early Friday.

Elon Musk gestures as he arrives on the red carpet for the Axel Springer Awards ceremony, in Berlin, … [+] on December 1, 2020.

POOL/AFP via Getty Images Key Facts The EU Commission’s Vice-President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová said it was “worrying” that Musk had banned journalists on Twitter, citing a new platform rule that prohibits sharing information about any user’s location.

She pointed out that under the bloc’s new Digital Services Act—which will take full effect in 2024—social media platforms must show “respect of media freedom and fundamental rights.”

The framework would make social media companies more accountable for content posted by users onto their platforms.

The Media Freedom Act, which was adopted by the EU in September, also “reinforces” those values, she said.

Jourová warned that Musk “should be aware of that,” and said that there are “red lines” and possibly “sanctions, soon.”

Penalties for violating the Digital Services Act could result in fines as much as 6% of a platform’s global annual revenue, which for Twitter would mean billions, while repeat offenses could mean a ban across the European bloc.

Twitter did not immediately reply to Forbes’ request for comment.

Crucial Quote “A lot can change in six months, but it sure seems like Twitter is lining up to be Europe’s first major test case when it comes to enforcing the [Digital Services Act]

” John Albert from AlgorithmWatch, a nonprofit research and advocacy group in Berlin, told the Associated Press.

Big Number 30.6 million. That’s how many active Twitter users were located in Western Europe in July 2022, according to DataReportal citing Twitter’s advertising audience data. During the same timeframe, the U.S. had at least 83.4 million active users while the U.K. had at least 19.8 million.

Contra The EU’s toughest new rules will apply to social media platforms with at least 45 million monthly users, and there’s been speculation Twitter may not qualify, according to the Associated Press. Before Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in a deal that was finalized in October, the platform reported 238 million users, but Musk said at the time that the number of fake accounts on Twitter had been underreported. The EU requires platforms to report their user numbers by mid-February.

Key Background Late Thursday, reports emerged that Twitter had suspended the Twitter accounts of rival social media platform Mastodon and multiple high-profile technology journalists who cover Musk after he announced that any user “doxxing” real-time location information will face suspension, calling it “a physical safety violation.” On Thursday, Twitter suspended @ElonJet, a well-known account run by a 20-year-old college student that tracked the flights taken by Musk’s private plane, and Mastodon and some of the banned journalists had also shared links to similar trackers. Musk, who had previously promised to take a hands-off approach to content moderation on Twitter, accused the reporters of sharing “basically assassination coordinates,” which he said was a violation of Twitter’s terms of service.

Further Reading Musk’s Twitter tweaks foreshadow EU showdown over new rules (Associated Press)

Twitter Suspends Accounts For Rival Mastodon And Several High-Profile Journalists (Forbes)

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