A controversial move by Twitter-owner Elon Musk to end free access to its APIs by February 9 has attracted criticism from the European Union’s top diplomat who has warned it could threaten the ability of researchers to study disinformation. “We have to do more research on the social media platforms. Study how [disinformation] flow[s], where does it come from, and which are the results,” high commissioner Josep Borrell said in the speech to the European Union’s diplomatic service (EEAS). Borrell singled out Twitter — and Musk as its owner — for naming and shaming — saying the EU is concerned about the news that Twitter is planning to restrict free access to its APIs which he warned would be “a serious step back from early commitments”. (https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/07/elon-musk-twitter-disinformation-josep-borrell/) “Early commitments” is likely a reference to Twitter being a signatory of the bloc’s Code of Practice on Online Disinformation from the get-go, back in 2018, when the Commission unveiled the voluntary initiative to encourage social media platforms to tackle the ‘fake news’ crisis.