Two curious cases of twitter suspensions have been making news without any explanation from Twitter spokesperson or authorities. The website suspended 4 of the official Twitter accounts of the Swiss communications ministry and the Hungarian government’s official account, on Wednesday, “without any warning or explanation”.
“Account suspended — Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules.”
This message displayed for more than a week on the official Twitter accounts of the Swiss communications ministry, which lamented, on Tuesday, it had received no notice and no explanation from the social media giant.
The Federal Office of Communications OFCOM, which supervises the media, telecoms and postal services, said, in a statement, it had “been unable to post tweets since 28 September”. It complained that the problem persisted across its accounts in German, French, Italian and English. The ministry said it was doing everything it could to resolve the situation, but acknowledged that “to date, Twitter has not responded to any requests for information.”
“The office regrets the situation which is beyond its control and apologises to its subscribers,” it said, adding that it would continue publishing information on its website and through press releases.
Contacted by AFP, Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ministry’s accounts remained blocked on Tuesday afternoon at around 1500 GMT.
The Federal Office of Communications OFCOM, which supervises the media, telecoms and postal services, said, in a statement, it had “been unable to post tweets since 28 September”. It complained that the problem persisted across its accounts in German, French, Italian and English. The ministry said it was doing everything it could to resolve the situation, but acknowledged that “to date, Twitter has not responded to any requests for information”.
“The office regrets the situation which is beyond its control and apologises to its subscribers,” it said, adding that it would continue publishing information on its website and through press releases.
Contacted by AFP, Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ministry’s accounts remained blocked on Tuesday afternoon at around 1500 GMT.
Similarly, the Hungarian government said it had demanded answers from Twitter after its official account was temporarily suspended. A government spokesman portrayed the suspension as an act of censorship against nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government. For over an hour any attempt to access the account prompted the message.
“User @abouthungary has been suspended.” The account then re-appeared and posted the message saying it had “apparently been restored — also without explanation”.
Earlier, government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said on his own Twitter account that “the official account of the Hungarian Government @AboutHungary has been suspended by @Twitter without any warning or explanation”.
“We have taken the necessary steps and are awaiting an official explanation from Twitter,” Kovacs said.
“The beautiful new world has finally arrived, in which tech giants are silencing those who hold different opinions.”
Hungary’s other official social media channels seemed to be operating normally on Wednesday.
