Versión Español
Español“Sorry, that user is suspended.” That is what you’ll read when searching Twitter for the opponents of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. In the last 24 hours, Diana Amores (@Diana_Amores), Carlos Andrés Vera (@polificción), Juan Carlos (@carlitoswayec), and José Joaquín Olmedo (@jjolmedo) have all had their Twitter accounts shut down.
All four of the suspended accounts were known for being highly critical of Rafael Correa’s faults and failures.
A few hours before his Twitter account was taken offline, José Joaquín Olmedo tweeted: “Please Ecuador, don’t give in to tyranny. Keep informing and communicating. We cannot read anyone. We will not give up Resistance SOS.”
Carlos Andrés Vera, a well-known filmmaker, has not yet publicly criticized the suspension of his Twitter account. However, his father, activist and writer Carlos Vera Rodríguez, took to Twitter himself to denounce his son’s suspension.
. @Twitter_es suspende por 2da vez cuenta de @Polificcion. No ha violado norma alguna de uso. Cuánto pesa a la tiranía UN tuitero!
— Carlos Vera (@CarlosVerareal) July 23, 2014
Vera Rodríguez also pointed out that the companies IMS Media and Ximah Digital both work with Twitter in Latin America, and that these companies also happen to have business relationships with Ecuador’s government.
1. @imscorp representa a @twitter en LATAM. Hay que preguntarles por qué la concecionaria de TW en EC es tb agencia digital del gobierno
— Carlos Vera (@CarlosVerareal) July 24, 2014
Vera Rodríguez tweeted at Ximah’s manager in Ecuador, Juan Carlos Váscones, and questioned their involvement in the suspensions. “If the government’s digital agency also works for Twitter in Latin America, we have reasons to believe they are behind these acts.”
4. Si la agencia digital del GOB tiene la concesión de TW en EC, existen motivos para sospechar q ellos están detrás de la PAUTA de trolls
— Carlos Vera (@CarlosVerareal) July 24, 2014
Váscones responded to Vera Rodríguez’s claims by saying, “If you’d like to defame me, you’ll have to do it with evidence. I will not accept you speaking lies. Apologize for defaming me.”
.@CarlosVerareal si me difama hágalo con evidencias. No acepto que hable cosas que no son, pida disculpas por difamar pic.twitter.com/NBWCcdYNdG
— Juan Carlos Váscones (@jcvascones) July 24, 2014
Diana Amores, a prominent activist in Ecuador, told El Universo, “I received a few notifications from my followers claiming they had trouble seeing my account.” She says she was contacted by Twitter and told her account had been suspended for violating their user agreement regarding the use of automated systems to gain more followers.
Amores denies Twitter’s claims and says she has submitted a report and is waiting to hear back from the company’s representatives.
In the past, Rafael Correa has offered Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and NSA leaker Edward Snowden political asylum in his country, claiming his government believes strongly in freedom of expression.
Snowden, a former systems administrator for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and private intelligence contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA), is accused of revealing details of classified US information about government surveillance to news organizations.
However, Correa’s government is now being accused of doing the same thing Snowden denounced: mass surveillance of the public.
According to Semana, Ecuador purchased US$5.5 million in equipment from an Israeli company to intercept calls and other electronic communications from cell phones.
The equipment gives the government complete access to their citizens’ private calls. It identifies incoming and outgoing calls and can intercept text messages. It also comes with a tracking service, providing a device’s location through visual and audio recognition.
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