The European Socialists and Democrats today in Brussels expressed their solidarity to the journalists of TV5 Monde after today's attack by hackers claiming to belong to the Islamic State and called on the EU governments to "urgently coordinate an immediate reaction against the ISIS cyber-terrorism."
S&D vice-president Tanja Fajon MEP said:
"If confirmed, the hacking of TV5 Monde by the IS terrorist group is another serious attack to the fundaments of our democracy and we must not underestimate it only because there are no casualties. As for Charlie Hebdo, the ISIS terrorists are deliberately targeting our freedom of expression and information.
"It is appalling to see how a bunch of backward and ignorant terrorists can easily hack and block the information of an international TV channel. We should be the ones blocking their violent and non-sense propaganda. The EU governments cannot let them win and must urgently co-ordinate a reaction to strengthen the defences to our freedom of information and shut down the ISIS cyber-terrorism."
French socialist Sylvie Guillaume, vice-president of the European Parliament in charge of communication, added:
"We strongly stand with the TV5 Monde journalists in the work that they are doing. As a free source of information, TV5 Monde provides a crucial role in the public discourse. Their daily news is an important resource for many people in the world, including the Maghreb region and other African countries.
"It is precisely because of this role that they have become the targets of IS terrorists.
"We support the request of Fleur Pellerin, the French minister for culture, to hold an urgent meeting of EU ministers and call on them to ensure the security of the soldiers and their relatives targeted in this attack."
S&D press contact
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