Twitter suspends Joma, CPP-linked accounts

MANILA, Philippines — Social media company Twitter has suspended the account of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison.

In a statement, CPP chief information officer Marco Valbuena confirmed that Sison’s account and others linked to the communist organization have been suspended since Friday.

Among those suspended were the accounts with handles @prwc_info, @cpp_angbayan and @sineproletaryo.

“We see this as part of heightened efforts to silence anti-imperialist voices on social media on the pretext of the sham US ‘war against terror’,” said Valbuena, whose account @cpp_marco remains active as of Saturday afternoon.

He said his account may be targeted by what he described as Twitter’s “arbitrary suspension,” saying it would deny him and the CPP “the chance to use Twitter as a self-declared platform for free expression.”

Twitter has yet to issue a statement on the matter.

However, its policy prohibits the users linked to “violent organizations, including terrorist organizations, violent extremist groups or individuals who affiliate with and promote their illicit activities.”

“Our assessments under this policy are informed by national and international terrorism designations, as well as our violent extremist group and violent organizations criteria,” it added.

The Philippine government, through the Anti-Terrorism Council, earlier designated the CPP, NDFP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, as terrorist organizations.

Sison, who has sought refuge in the Netherlands, was also designated as a terrorist individual.

Under Twitter’s policy, among those prohibited were activities engaging in or promoting acts on behalf of a violent organization; recruitment; providing or distributing services to further a prohibited group’s stated goals and using the insignia or symbol of a terrorist organization to promote them or indicate affiliation or support.

“We may make limited exceptions for groups that have reformed or are currently engaging in a peaceful resolution process, as well as groups with representatives who have been elected to public office through democratic elections,” read the policy.

“We may also make exceptions related to the discussion of terrorism or extremism for clearly educational or documentary purposes. This policy also doesn’t apply to state or governmental organizations,” it added.

Last April, technology companies Facebook and Google also closed the accounts linked to the CPP on their respective platforms.