Academic who mocked China’s Xi says Twitter account was restricted

A New Zealand academic said that Twitter temporarily restricted her account for her tweets mocking Chinese President Xi Jinping, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

University of Canterbury Professor Anne-Marie Brady tweeted Sunday that the social media platform has restricted her account and removed two tweets of her mocking the 100th anniversary celebration of China’s Communist Party (CCP). 

After those tweets were made “unavailable”, my account was then restricted. Thanks @edwardlucas for raising this with @Twitter, as I got no reply to my messages to them pic.twitter.com/YWBlvUBA0B

— Professor Anne-Marie Brady (@Anne_MarieBrady) July 4, 2021

“Seems like @Twitter may have briefly forgotten they don’t work for Xi Jinping #CPC100Years,” Brady wrote in a thread. “After those tweets were made ‘unavailable’, my account was then restricted.”

Brady, who wrote “Magic Weapons,” a 2017 paper on the Communist Party’s influence in New Zealand, said that her account was restored on the following day, the AP noted. 

In one of her now-deleted tweets, Brady made fun of China President Xi, writing “Xi: its my Party and I’ll cry if I want to.” In a statement, Twitter told the AP that they detected “unusual activity” from the account, but that there was no coordination between Twitter and China.

“To set the record straight, the assertion that Twitter is in coordination with any government to suppress speech has no basis in fact whatsoever,” Twitter said. “We advocate for a free, global and open internet and remain a staunch defender of freedom of expression.”

Twitter didn’t say what prompted Brady’s account to be restricted.

Brady, who is an outspoken critic of the CCP, said that various social media platforms including Facebook and LinkedIn have been known to silence critics of the party.

The Hill has reached out to Twitter for comment.