The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today, June 4, revealed that its affiliate accounts were censored and suspended by Twitter on its social media platform without “warning or advise.” The said accounts served as platforms for the Philippine revolutionary movement to express its views, and share statements and updates on its activities.

CPP Chief Information Officer Marco Valbuena said that the accounts of the @prwc_info, the @cpp_angbayan, and @sineproletaryo, and that of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Chief Political Consultant @JoseMariaSison were suspended since yesterday, June 3.

“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,'” Valbuena said.

The CPP spokesman (@cpp_marco), added his account may be targeted next by Twitter’s “artbitrary suspension,” which he says will “deny me and the CPP the chance to use Twitter as a self-declared platform for free expression.”

The Twitter suspensions came after Facebook and Google, both based in the US, censored and closed the social media and email accounts of the CPP last April. Valbuena further elaborated that these aim to “deny space for anti-imperialist forces to challenge and expose the official lies of the US and its fascist cohorts.”

He also said that these intend to allow US imperialists to “have absolute control over the social media narrative.”

Valbuena said that they “will continue to publish the CPP’s views in all possible ways.”

Official statements and articles of the Philippine revolutionary movement, the CPP, the New People’s Army and the NDFP can be accessed on its website at https://cpp.ph.

Valbuena ended with an appeal to the friends of the CPP and people interested in the Philippine revolutionary movement to help in sharing their views over social media platforms.

“We hope our friends and people interested in the views of the CPP can help by sharing our statements and publications on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. Let us continue to stand up to the US imperialists and not allow ourselves to be silenced,” Valbuena said.

#Philippines #PeoplesStruggles #CommunistPartyOfThePhilippines #censorship #Socialism #Twitter #Asia

Ricardo Palmera is a Colombian revolutionary dedicated to the struggle of his people and to ending the oppression and exploitation in his country by the small rich elite and their U.S. backers. Professor Palmera has fought all his life for peace. He began as an organizer for the Patriotic Union (UP), a peaceful, leftist electoral coalition. But when the UP made some gains, the Colombian military and their death squads assassinated 4000 of their activists and elected officials. With the electoral path to peace firmly closed, Palmera with no choice but to go to the mountains and join the FARC. It was in his capacity as a peace negotiator, meeting with a UN official in Ecuador, that he was arrested and extradited to the United States.

The Free Ricardo Palmera Facebook group grew to over 700 members from the U.S., Colombia and Latin America and the group was up for about three years with no problems. Facebook refuses to give any details or explanation behind their move, leaving activists to speculate that the State Department or some other government agency is behind the censorship.

In explaining their activism, Tom Burke said, “The National Committee’s goal is to free Professor Palmera, a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (FARC-EP), who is held in solitary confinement, under special administrative measures by the U.S. government. These ‘special measures’ mean the press cannot interview Professor Palmera and he is not allowed letters or visits from his American supporters. So Facebook is a good way for people to find out what is actually happening with Professor Palmera’s trials and imprisonment by the U.S. empire. You know, there is really only democracy and freedom of speech for rich people or those claptraps who serve their interests in this country.”

The actual “Free Ricardo Palmera!” group that was taken down by Facebook presented revealing information, none of it hateful or obscene, but possibly ‘threatening’ to U.S. war and intervention in Colombia.

Tom Burke said, “We would like to think our committee is a threat to the U.S. dirty war in Colombia. We want to end the U.S. intervention and bring home the U.S. advisors, troops, and mercenaries. For the U.S. to seize, deport, imprison and torture a Colombian revolutionary from his own country certainly seems like something the U.S. State Department would want to keep quiet. It is ugly work – not the image the White House wants to promote. The corporate press in our country refused to cover Palmera’s case, despite widespread coverage in Colombia and Latin America. The Obama administration certainly does not want to advertise its dirty war against revolutionaries fighting for the independence of their own country, especially not now that Obama’s seven U.S. bases are being built in Colombia. The U.S. invasion has begun, just as the FARC's founder Manuel Marulanda predicted more than ten years ago.”

The two other administrators of the “Free Ricardo Palmera!” group, Angela Denio and Josh Sykes, were reinstated last week by Facebook after a campaign of calling, emailing and inviting friends to the new anti-censorship group which has rapidly grown to nearly 700 members. They are leading the charge to get Facebook to reverse its censorship of the “Free Ricardo Palmera!” group and to reinstate Tom Burke’s account alongside theirs.

Tom Burke received the following message from Facebook on July 14, in response to his appeal:

Hi Tom,

After reviewing your situation, we have determined that you violated our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. One of Facebook's main priorities is the comfort and safety of our users. We do not tolerate hate speech. Targeting people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or disease is a serious violation of our standards and has resulted in the permanent loss of your account. We will not be able to reactivate your account for any reason. This decision is final.

Thanks,

Kimmie

User Operations

Facebook

Josh Sykes sent out a denouncement of this letter and policy to the members of the protest group on Facebook saying, “This is outrageous! Tom Burke is a consistent fighter against every one of these things Facebook is charging him with!

“Is the U.S. State Department putting pressure on Facebook to silence the Ricardo Palmera activists and its spokesperson, Tom Burke, just like they put pressure on the judges during Ricardo Palmera's frame-up trials in their attempt to criminalize the national liberation struggle in Colombia?

“The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera is asking people to take a few moments to demand that Facebook stop their censorship and reinstate the ‘Free Ricardo Palmera!’ group and Tom Burke’s account.

“Share this group http://www.Facebook.com/group.php?gid=136562699701718 and invite your friends. Write about this on blogs and in whatever other media is available to you. Continue to call and email Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at (650) 543-4800 and email Facebook at info@Facebook.com

“Change your Facebook status to Reinstate the account of Tom Burke and reverse the censorship of the ‘Free Ricardo Palmera!’ group!”

#UnitedStates #RicardoPalmera #NationalCommitteeToFreeRicardoPalmera #facebook #censorship #TomBurke #PoliticalPrisoners

A partial victory was won today, July 12, in the struggle against facebook’s attempted censorship of the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (NCFRP), with the reinstatement of the account of National Committee activist Josh Sykes, followed a few hours later by the reactivation of the account of Angela Denio. After the “Free Ricardo Palmera” facebook group, with more than 700 members from around the world, was shut down by facebook on June 30, the National Committee began a fight to recover this valuable resource. In response, on July 7, facebook disabled the accounts of the three administrators of the group, National Committee activists Josh Sykes, Angela Denio and Tom Burke.

“We were surprised to see facebook silence this group, which exists to fight for justice for Ricardo Palmera,” Angela Denio responded, “Professor Palmera is a good man whose story deserves to be heard by many people.”

Responding to this attack, a protest group was quickly created on facebook to demand the accounts be reinstated. People from around the country called and wrote to facebook to oppose the censorship of the Free Ricardo Palmera group. In just a matter of days the protest group’s membership swelled to more than 500 members. Articles and a video about facebook’s censorship were written and circulated all over the internet on more than 20 websites. Finally, on July 12, the accounts of Josh Sykes and Angela Denio were reactivated.

Facebook sent a message to Sykes, stating that his account was reinstated, but that, “After reviewing your situation, we have determined that your group violated our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. One of facebook's main priorities is the comfort and safety of our users. We do not allow credible threats to harm others, support for violent organizations, or exceedingly graphic content. Your violation of facebook's standards has resulted in the permanent loss of your group. We will not be able to reactivate this group for any reason. This decision is final.”

As the first of the three administrators back on facebook, Sykes sent a message to the members of the protest group. “I'm writing to you all to thank you for your support, to tell you some good news, and to say that we are not finished yet,” the letter read.

The letter went on, “My profile has been reinstated by facebook. We are still waiting to hear about the other two administrators, Angela Denio and Tom Burke. However, facebook is not yet willing to budge on the Free Ricardo Palmera group.”

Responding to facebook’s message, Sykes wrote, “The Free Ricardo Palmera group, of course, never sought to ‘incite violence.’ On the contrary, the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera stands for an end to the U.S. war in Colombia and seeks justice and human rights. We demand the release of a political prisoner, a peace negotiator with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (FARC-EP), Ricardo Palmera, a freedom fighter who is being held in Colorado's Supermax prison in a gross violation of Colombian sovereignty.”

Sykes explained how Palmera had devoted his life to peace and social justice. “Ricardo Palmera has fought all his life for peace, first as an organizer for the Patriotic Union (UP), a peaceful, leftist electoral coalition. But when the UP made some gains, the Colombian military and their death squads assassinated 4000 of their activists and elected officials in cold blood, leaving Palmera with no choice but to go to the mountains and join the guerrilla. It was in his capacity as a peace negotiator, meeting with a UN official in Ecuador, that he was arrested and extradited to the United States.”

Pointing out they hypocrisy of facebook’s decision, Sykes said, “We should be glad that facebook has seen at least part of their mistake. But why delete the Free Ricardo Palmera group when there are plenty of groups supporting the Colombian military. Isn't the Colombian military working hand in glove with death squads, so much more violent? And yet there are scores of groups that support the Colombian military.”

Tom Burke, spokesperson for the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, said, “Facebook suspended my account because we support Colombian revolutionary Ricardo Palmera. Facebook wants to shut us up in the same way that pro-government death squads trained at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia murder Colombian trade unionists, peasant organizers and leftist students. The want to shut them up. I'm still waiting for facebook to recognize the mistake they made in censoring the Free Ricardo Palmera group. I am not going to be silent while a brave Colombian revolutionary is forced to live in a tiny concrete cell for 24 hours a day with no human contact. The U.S. empire is in decline and facebook censorship is just one sign of the desperation of the ‘powers that be.’ They are on the losing side of history.”

The National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera is calling for a redoubling of efforts to get justice. They are asking that people continue to call Mark Zuckerberg at (650) 543-4800 and demand the reinstatement of the account of Tom Burke and continue to demand that facebook reverse its censorship of the Free Ricardo Palmera group. The NCFRP is also calling for supporters to email facebook at info@facebook.com

Angela Denio added, “Facebook has lifted a rock only to drop it on their feet. By attempting to silence us, they have given us an excellent opportunity to raise awareness around the struggle to free Ricardo Palmera. As long as they stubbornly continue to censor us we will continue to build momentum around Professor Palmera’s just struggle for freedom.”

#UnitedStates #RicardoPalmera #facebook #censorship #PoliticalPrisoners

#UnitedStates #RicardoPalmera #PoliticalPrisoners #facebook #censorship

Fight Back!: Josh, can you tell us about the “Free Ricardo Palmera” group?

Josh Sykes: The “Free Ricardo Palmera” group was a facebook group administered by three activists with the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera. Professor Palmera is a political prisoner in the United States. He was a leading peace negotiator with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (FARC-EP). Since he was first arrested on a mission to meet with a United Nations representative in Ecuador and then extradited to the U.S., the National Committee has worked for his freedom. The extradition and imprisonment of Palmera, a true freedom fighter, goes against Colombian sovereignty and is a slap in the face to the Colombian people. Palmera is a good man who was railroaded in an attempt by the U.S. to criminalize the national liberation struggle in Colombia. The facebook group was one of many ways the National Committee got out information about the struggle to free Ricardo Palmera. When facebook shut it down it had more than 700 members from around the world, with many from the U.S. and Latin America. It was a good resource for us and we are working to get it back.

Fight Back!: Why was the group shut down?

Sykes: Facebook's reason was that it violated the ‘terms of use’ so they shut it down on June 30. They said that it was obscene, that it attacked people, or was hateful. Nothing could be further from the truth. They also threatened the administrators of the group with having their profiles disabled if we continued to “abuse” facebook features – which we never did. Of course it wasn't really about any of those things. We are a group advocating justice. Ricardo Palmera’s human rights are being violated. He is in solitary confinement [at the SuperMax prison in Colorado] with no human contact. He is held under ‘special administrative measures’ where the U.S. government says journalists cannot interview him, we are not allowed to visit him and when American supporters write letters they are returned saying Palmera is not permitted to read them. Palmera is currently on ‘trial by video’ in Colombia and he is shackled from head to ankle and threatened with electric shock if he moves too quickly. He cannot possibly get a fair trial this way. We continue to demand, “Free Ricardo Palmera!”

One possibility is that facebook is censoring views they don't like. They've shut down a number of groups operating in solidarity with the Palestinian people, for instance. Another possibility is that the U.S. State Department put pressure on the bosses at facebook to shut us down, just like they put pressure on the U.S. judges during the trials and sentencing of Professor Palmera. In any case, facebook is acting like the Colombian government’s death squads trying to shut people up for speaking out against the rich and powerful.

Fight Back!: What are the latest developments?

Sykes: There is what facebook calls an appeals process, which is nothing more than a run-around. Today facebook disabled the accounts of myself and the two other administrators of the Free Ricardo Palmera group, Angela Denio and Tom Burke, with no warning and no reason given. We are appealing that too. Meanwhile, we are asking that people stand up and oppose this blatant censorship on the part of facebook.

Call facebook CEO Mark Zukerberg at (650) 543-4800 and demand that the Free Ricardo Palmera group, and the accounts of the three administrators, be reinstated. Join the protest group, here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=136562699701718 Demand an end to facebook's censorship. Stop the attacks on progressive causes and activists.

#UnitedStates #Culture #Colombia #RicardoPalmera #facebook #censorship #PoliticalPrisoners