Twitter blocks accounts of Raul Castro, Cuban state-run media

Reuters / HAVANA

U.S. social media company Twitter has blocked the accounts of Cuban Communist Party Leader Raul Castro, his daughter Mariela Castro and Cuba's top state-run media outlets, a move the Cuban Union of Journalists denounced as "massive censorship".

Dozens of accounts of journalists for Cuban state-run media aswell as the official account for the Communications Ministry werealso blocked in the crackdown late on Sept. 11.

Asked to comment on the suspensions, a Twitter spokesman said thatthe company's platform manipulation policies prohibit usersartificially amplifying or disrupting conversations by using multipleaccounts.

The Cuban Union of Journalists said Twitter had suspendedindividual accounts in the past which had been recovered.

The move came as President Miguel Diaz-Canel was addressing thenation on state-run TV, warning of an energy crisis due to U.S.sanctions.

"What is new here is the massive scope of this act ofcybernetic warfare, clearly planned, that aims to limit the freedomof expression of Cuban institutions and citizens and to silence theleaders of the revolution" it said in a statement.

Social media companies globally are under pressure to stem illicitonline political influence campaigns.

Cuba is a one-party state where the government has a monopoly onpublic spaces and traditional media. While the top state-run mediaoutlets have different profiles, they frequently publish similar ifnot identical articles.

Many Cuban state media, journalists and officials limit themselvesto retweeting official statements. Government critics complain of"cybercatfishes", fake accounts pretending to support thegovernment and attacking those who do not.

Some independent Cuban journalists chided officials forcomplaining of censorship when they indulge it at other times.

"Official Cuban press discovers 'freedom of expression'thanks to Twitter," wrote 14ymedio, the digital news outlet runby prominent dissident Yoani Sanchez.

"The censors get censored!," exclaimed Coco Fusco, aCuban-American artist.

Cuba was featured on the list of 10 most censored countriesworldwide released this week by the Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ), headquartered in New York.

Independent journalism in Cuba is tolerated but not legal and thewebsites of several alternative outlets that are critical of thegovernment are blocked on the island. Locals must use virtual privatenetworks to access them.

"That the Cuban government censors is not an excuse to carryout censorship (against it)," said Elaine Diaz Rodriguez,founder of independent Cuban news outlet Periodismo de Barrio,condemning Twitter's move.

"And that the Cuban government creates false accounts doesnot mean all of its accounts are false."

Long one of the world's least connected countries, Cuba has beenrapidly expanding web access in recent years, introducing mobileinternet last December.