Czech Cardinal Dominika Duka’s Twitter account has been suspended. According to the cardinal’s spokesman, Jiří Prinz, Twitter has not provided any reason for its decision. However, a possible explanation could be that on Oct. 1, the cardinal shared an article published by the Conservative Newspaper about the appointment of US Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
“Twitter account has been blocked, and we do not know the cause,” a spokesman Jiří Prinz told Echo24, adding that a consultation on how the situation will be resolved is expected soon, probably on Thursday.
Currently, social network users are greeted on Duka’s profile with the text: “Warning: This account is temporarily restricted“.
After clicking on the “View profile” button, the user will get to the cardinal’s account, but according to Prinz, Duka cannot currently contribute to it.
Although there is no official reason given for the suspension, the official Twitter account of the Prague Archbishopric released news of his suspension on Oct. 22, the same day that the cardinal shared the article on Coney’s Supreme Court confirmation. Twitter could have taken the step to curb the spread of this article.
Another possible reason would be a breach of account security. In such a case, Twitter may have taken the step for precautionary reasons. However, a spokesman Prinz emphasized that the reason was not currently known and personally refused to speculate about it.
While other prominent Czech conservatives have been suspended or banned from Big Tech platforms, if it is proven a major religious figure was censored for expressing himself, it would mark a serious escalation of Big Tech censorship in the country. In June of this year, a member of a group of Franciscan monks was censored on Facebook for sharing his political viewpoints on Black Lives Matter protests and the situation facing ethnic Hungarians following the Trianon Treaty from World War I.
Title image: The new archbishop of Prague, Dominik Duka walks in a procession towards St. Vitus Cathedral to take over the crosier from his predecessor Miloslav Vlk, background left, in Prague, Saturday, April 10, 2010. (AP Photo/CTK, Michal Krumphanzl)
