The SPD leader Saskia Esken is withdrawing from Twitter because she dislikes the development there with hatred, hate speech and disinformation.

"I've been connected to you here for 10 years.

I had good debates and actions with many," she wrote on the short message platform on Thursday.

Nevertheless, she will leave Twitter.

As a reason, she referred to a guest post by her on “Zeit.de”.

“The economy of attention and outrage that we are witnessing on social media today is damaging our political culture.

Hatred and hate speech threaten social cohesion, campaigns for disinformation and the manipulation of public opinion endanger our democracy," Esken writes in the article.

“Twitter does nothing against fake profiles, acts extremely carelessly when dealing with reported criminal content such as insults or incitement to hatred and does not stop unlawful Twitter blocks even after clear verdicts.

The announced acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk will most certainly not turn the platform into a for-profit entity.”

At the same time, Esken complains of a certain powerlessness: "Because the fight against these phenomena contradicts the economic interests of the platforms, our appeals for self-regulation, as well as our attempts at regulation, are more or less in vain." In truth, the users of the social networks are mere goods and reduced to the sum of our data, habits and preferences.

Esken states: "The exploitation of capital has destroyed the WWW." She therefore calls for a re-democratization of the Internet.

"We must strengthen the digital sovereignty of people, business and society in Europe."

Musk, who will soon take over the short message service, announced on the other hand that Twitter must not become a "place of horror" where everything can be said without consequences.

In a tweet packaged as an open letter to advertisers, he wrote that freedom of expression was being restricted too severely on Twitter.

But the platform must be “warm and inviting for everyone”.

Musk had previously justified the purchase with the desire to strengthen freedom of speech.

The tech billionaire also said he would let ex-President Donald Trump, who had been banned after praising his violent supporters, back on the platform.

Critics are concerned that the change in ownership will result in less moderated content on the network, fueling hatred and hate speech.