EU warns of sanctions as Twitter bans journalists

'There are red lines,' says senior EU official

ANKARA:

The EU on Friday threatened Twitter owner Elon Musk with sanctions after the accounts of several journalists were suspended.

"News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying," Vera Jourova, the vice president of the European Commission for values and transparency, said on Twitter, and warned that the EU's Digital Services Act “requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights."

"Elon Musk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon," Jourova, the vice-president for values and transparency, she added.

Meanwhile, the German Foreign Ministry tweeted screenshots of the accounts of journalists suspended by Twitter and said that the ministry has a “problem” with moves that undermine press freedom

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"Press freedom cannot be switched on and off on a whim," the ministry wrote. "The journalists below can no longer follow us, comment and criticise. We have a problem with that, @Twitter," the ministry wrote.

Journalists for the New York Times, the Washington Post and CNN were among those locked out of their accounts.

The Digital Services Act, which is currently going through the EU Parliament, is set to be in force by 2023. The proposed law would allow the EU Commission to impose fines of up to 6% of the global turnover of a service provider that it finds breaks its rules.