More CPP-linked social media accounts shut

More accounts linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which has been designated by the government as a terrorist organization, have been taken down on the social media site Twitter.

CPP’s chief information officer, Marco Valbuena, said the Twitter accounts of the Philippine Revolution Web Central (@prwc_info3), Ang Bayan (@cpp_angbayan) and his account (@cpp_mv), as well as “several others” were “suspended or taken down without warning” on Friday.

The websites of the CPP and its affiliate organizations remained accessible as of this writing.

‘To silence dissent’

The takedown of the Twitter accounts happened a week after the CPP confirmed the death of its top two leaders, Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, at the hands of the military, and days after its political wing, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), marked its 50th anniversary on April 24.

“Undoubtedly, this is part of the permanent online crackdown against the CPP and other groups to silence anti-imperialist dissent and prevent the spread of the message of revolutionary resistance in the country,” Valbuena said in a statement on Saturday.

According to CPP, the crackdown of their accounts by Twitter was “instigated by the US and Marcos governments … and part of the heightening suppression of the freedom of speech under rising fascism worldwide.”

Representatives of the social media company were not immediately available for comment. Twitter’s policy, last updated in April, warns against content that foments hate and violence.

“There is no place on Twitter for violent and hateful entities, including (but not limited to) terrorist organizations, violent extremist groups, perpetrators of violent attacks, or individuals who affiliate with and promote their illicit activities,” it said.

Earlier takedowns

In June last year, Twitter purged a number of accounts linked to the CPP, including that of its late founding chair Jose Maria Sison, for violating its rules on safety, particularly on terrorism. Sison died in the Netherlands on Dec. 16, 2022.

The suspensions came also after Facebook and Google censored and closed the social media and email accounts of the CPP in April that year. Sine Proletaryo, the multimedia arm of the CPP, had its YouTube account taken down in 2018.

The CPP, NDFP and its guerrilla force the New People’s Army (NPA), were designated by the Anti-Terrorism Council as terrorist organizations in 2021.

The CPP and NPA are also listed as terrorist organizations by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.