The hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) has quickly gone from uniting hundreds of thousands of protesters to demonstrate against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama to making enemies out of some of the country’s most powerful figures.Yesterday, thousands of FPI members demonstrated at National Police Headquarters in Jakarta to demand the removal of the West Java Police Chief while the group’s leader, Habib RIzieq, declared he would report former president Megawati Soekarnoputri for blasphemy against Islam.
Another organization that FPI has apparently crossed the line with is social media giant Twitter, which suspended both the official FPI Twitter account (@dpp_fpi) and Rizieq’s personal account.
Another FPI account (@dpp__fpi) was quickly made, with a declaration that they would make thousands of new accounts if necessary to make their voices heard. That tweet is gone however because Twitter quickly shut down that new account too.
In a release sent out to media organizations, Twitter Indonesia did not explain exactly what FPI did to have their accounts suspended but stated more generally: “In order to create a sense of security and comfort for users on Twitter, we can suspend accounts that violate the rules of Twitter. Account suspensions occur based on reports we receive from users through our procedures for reporting violations”.
Perhaps realizing that they couldn’t circumvent Twitter’s terms of service simply by making new accounts, it seems FPI decided to try a different tactic – by calling for a boycott Twitter altogether.
The notice asks all FPI supporters to immediately stop using Twitter, for fighters in the ‘Muslim Cyber Army’ to take over Twitter’s management, and for FPI members in the US to stage a mass protest at Twitter’s office (presumably their headquarters in San Francisco).
Good luck with that.
FPI still has their official account on Instagram, so apparently they don’t think the photo-sharing social media network is another Islam-hating tool of the west.
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