CPP: PRWC, Ang Bayan, other red-linked Twitter accounts taken down or suspended

The Communist Party of the Philippines said on Saturday that the Twitter accounts of the Philippine Revolution Web Central, Ang Bayan, and several others were suspended or taken down without warning.

“The takedown was carried out a week after the Party exposed the fascist crime of the Philippine military in the torture and killing of CPP leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon and the massacre of the Catbalogan 10,” CPP Information Officer Marco Valbuena said in a statement.

Valbuena's Twitter account was also among those that were suspended or taken down.

“[The takedown/suspension] also comes a few days after the successful celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and amid resounding calls to fight the Marcos regime's subservience to US geopolitical interests,” he added.

Valbuena said the latest development was part of the “online crackdown” against the CPP and other groups “to prevent the spread of the message of revolutionary resistance in the country.”

“This crackdown by Twitter, surely instigated by the US and Marcos governments, further exposes the hypocrisy of ‘absolute freedom' which supposedly exists in the Twitter platform, and form part of the heightening suppression of the freedom of speech under rising fascism worldwide,” he said.

“Despite this crackdown and all efforts to silence the people's revolutionary voice, we will continue to work to make their grievances and aspirations be heard in social media and other online platforms. We will try to re-establish soon our accounts on Twitter.”

In response, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Medel Aguilar told GMA News Online that “promoting violence and terrorism is against all morals and community standards.”

GMA News Online had also sought comment from the Palace and social media company Twitter but they have yet to respond as of this posting.

Last April 20, the CPP confirmed the deaths of its leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon in August 2022. It said that the Tiamzons were arrested along with several other party members on August 21, 2022.

The CPP added that the couple, while unarmed when arrested in Catbalogan City, were tortured and killed.

The AFP, however, denied the CPP's claims and called the CPP’s allegations “propaganda” and an “attempt to deceive” Filipinos. — DVM, GMA Integrated News