UN condemns Twitter's decision to suspend journalists' accounts as EU threatens sanctions

euronews.com:

The United Nations and the European Union have condemned Twitter's decision to suspend several journalists covering the social media platform and its new owner Elon Musk.

Reporters for The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and Voice of America were among those whose accounts were taken down. The official account for Mastodon, a decentralised social network billed as an alternative to Twitter, was also banned.

"We're very disturbed by the arbitrary suspension of accounts of journalists that we saw on Twitter," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. 

“The move sets a dangerous precedent at a time when journalists all over the world are facing censorship, physical threats and even worse".

Earlier on Friday, Věra Jourová, the European Commission vice-president for values and transparency, warned Musk that Twitter could soon face sanctions under new EU regulations.

The EU's Digital Services Act taking effect next year requires “respect of media freedom and fundamental rights," she tweeted. 

"Elon Musk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon”.

Under the new EU rules, Big Tech companies would have to explain to European users why their accounts were suspended and give them a chance to challenge the decision. 

Violations could result in hefty fines of up to 6 per cent of global annual revenue, and repeat offenses could even result in a Europe-wide operating ban.

Twitter hasn’t explained to the journalists why it took down the accounts and made their profiles and past tweets disappear. But Musk took to Twitter on Thursday night to accuse journalists of sharing private information about his whereabouts that he described as “basically assassination coordinates”. 

He provided no evidence for that claim.

The sudden