(New York, NY)–Facebook and Twitter today announced they have suspended a number of accounts linked to state-backed information campaigns against Hong Kong demonstrators. PEN America’s CEO Suzanne Nossel welcomed the move and issued the following statement:

“China’s government has denied its citizens access to global outlets for communication. That they now turn around and stealthily unleash a campaign of disinformation on the very same platforms represents a new height of hypocrisy. We welcome the actions of Twitter and Facebook in detecting and shutting down this activity. We urge them to redouble the resources devoted to detecting and removing government-backed disinformation campaigns.”

Read more about PEN America’s work on promoting free expression in China.

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CONTACT: Stephen Fee, Director of Communications, [email protected], +1 202 309 8892