Twitter Temporarily Restricts Professor’s Account for Mocking Chinese President
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A University of Canterbury professor was suspended from Twitter for poking fun at Chinese President Xi Jinping, before regaining access to the platform over the weekend.
Professor Anne-Marie Brady’s suspension came after she shared a story about the Chinese Communist Party celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding, titled, “Xi’s hollow 100th birthday celebration for the Chinese Communist Party.” Brady wrote, “Alternative headline: “Xi: It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.” She shared Lesley Gore’s 1963 hit song, It’s My Party, in a subsequent message.
Brady briefly went silent before returning on July 4 to share screenshots that revealed Twitter informing Brady her account had been “restricted” for writing the messages. Edward Lucas, a columnist for London’s Sunday Times, wrote Monday that her return came only after he started a campaign against Twitter’s decision.
“Twitter has not explained what prompted this,” Lucas noted in his column. “Brady received only an automated warning that she may have ‘violated’ the social media platform’s rules. But the decision probably results from a concerted campaign by the Chinese Communist Party’s online agents. Enough complaints usually trigger an automated block. After I had stoked a furore on Twitter and sent umpteen complaints, her account was restored. Less prominent victims of Chinese censorship would have scantier chances of redress.”
Some of the biggest names in social media, from @Twitter to @LinkedIn @Zoom & @Facebook, appear to be getting into a habit of silencing CCP critics. Yesterday it was my turn to be censored. Thanks for your support in getting it overturned @edwardlucas https://t.co/1V0L2qdPa3
— Professor Anne-Marie Brady (@Anne_MarieBrady) July 5, 2021
In a statement, the company denied taking targeted action against Brady, telling Mediaite on Tuesday, “We can confirm that Twitter did not take any action against any of the tweets made by the referenced account. When we detect unusual activity from an account we may, in some cases, add notices temporarily until we have confirmation from the account owner. In this case, the account in question has already been recovered.”
It is not the first time Twitter has appeared to crack down on users critical of China. The company banned more than 100 Chinese users — including human rights lawyers, students, and activists — in 2019 who were critical of the country’s ruling regime, just days before the 30th anniversary of the Tianamen Square massacre in Beijing. Twitter later restored the accounts, saying anti-spam filters flagged the accounts in “error.”
Western social media platforms including Twitter are banned in China, meaning the country’s residents are required to use virtual private networks (VPNs) or other workarounds in order to gain access.
In its statement on Tuesday, Twitter similarly denied acting in “coordination” with the Chinese regime, adding, “The assertion that Twitter is in coordination with any government to suppress speech has no basis in fact whatsoever. We advocate for a free, global and Open Internet and remain a staunch defender of freedom of expression.”
