Twitter blocks embassy

Shanghai: Twitter yesterday said it had locked the account of China’s US embassy for a tweet that defended China’s policy towards Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang, which the US social media platform said violated its stand against ‘‘dehumanising’’ people.

China’s Foreign Ministry said it was confused by the move and that it was the embassy’s responsibility to call out disinformation and clarify the truth.

The Chinese Embassy account, @ChineseEmbinUS, tweeted this month that ethnic minority Uighur women had been emancipated and were no longer ‘‘babymaking machines’’, citing a study reported by statebacked newspaper China Daily.

The tweet was removed by Twitter and replaced by a label stating that it was no longer available. Although Twitter hides tweets that violate its policies, it requires account owners to manually delete such posts. The Chinese embassy has not tweeted since January 9.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Twitter is blocked in China but is an increasingly favoured platform by its diplomats and state media. — Reuters