Police have ‘no intention to silence anyone’

The cybercrime police on Friday said it had made no request for the parody social media account Jho Low Presidential Godson to be closed.

“Our aim was not to silence anyone or to close any account,” cybercrime unit head Andreas Anastasiades told Philenews following reports of police having filed a complaint against the account to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.

The parody account posted the complaint police had filed against it, while the matter was also confirmed by police spokesman Christos Andreou.

“In the interest of transparency, we are writing to inform you that Twitter has received a request from Cyprus Police – Cybercrime Unit regarding your Twitter account, @CommentaryJhoLow, that claims the following content violates LAW of Cyprus,” the statement from the company said.

Anastasiades subsequently clarified that the filing of the report was intended merely to inform Twitter of a possible breach in the platform’s terms of use in response to complaints. He said that taking down the account or any posts were not under the police’s control.

“We have called on the company to look into whether this account violates its terms of use. It’s up to the company to assess the situation and remove the account, or certain posts if they see fit, or to tell the admin to be more careful, or do nothing.

“The police have no intention […] to silence anyone, it is just that after the complaints, and studying the terms of use, we felt it appropriate to inform Twitter so that they can check if there is a breach of terms.”

The account, which has gained considerable following, came to the fore recently after posting questionable material about the controversial appointment of the permanent secretary of the health ministry Christina Yiannaki.

The officer added that similar actions are taken by the police whenever citizens submit complaints or concerns involving any posts on any other platform.

“As the police we try to assist the public with the problems they face. Sometimes we get positive results, sometimes not, and that’s because it’s up to the platforms themselves to [determine how to] respond,” Anastasides said.

Asked whether the complainants could have taken to Twitter themselves, Anastasiades said this is not possible if someone does not hold an account on the social media site. In this case a complaint can only be filed by proxy, the police chief explained – that is through the police or the children’s cyber safety helpline at 1480.

Anastasiades said that complaints against postings by the parody account have been ongoing from various people, adding that when posts are “decent and respectful towards the rights of the targeted personality there is no problem.

“There was no request for either silencing or closing the account,” Anastasiades emphasised.