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Twitter suspends accounts of 7 Serbian embassies, consulate
Serbia said Monday (August 22) that the Twitter accounts of seven of its embassies and a consulate have been suspended without explanation.
''Official accounts of embassies in Armenia, Iran, Indonesia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Kuwait, as well as the Consulate General in Chicago, were suspended on August 18,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding the suspensions occurred “without any explanation or prior notice of a possible violation of the social network’s rules.”
“Without getting into Twitter’s business policies, we note that it’s unacceptable to censor diplomatic offices of a democratic state that has not been sanctioned in any way,” it added.
Serbia has asked Twitter to unblock the accounts, arguing that such censorship of a pro-European democracy that upholds freedom of speech was unacceptable.
“Serbia is a country that is strategically committed to membership in the European Union and our political and democratic standards – including media freedoms – are adjusted to be in line with the highest European standards,” the Serbian foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Therefore it is absurd that a series of our diplomatic and consular offices were censored on a social network that boasts of promoting democracy and diversity of opinion.”
NATO says ready to intervene if stability between Serbia and Kosovo is at risk
Belgrade hopes the ban is “not part of an attempt to thwart or silence Serbia in its struggle for the truth,” in particular about the situation in Kosovo, the foreign ministry added.
Sixteen individuals – including 13 MPs from the ruling Progressive Party – were likewise suspended without explanation last week.
Among them was Arnaud Gouillon, the French-born aid worker currently employed as head of the foreign ministry Office for Cooperation with the Diaspora. His account has since been restored.
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