Police deny presidential pressure to close Jho Low parody account

Police on Saturday denied reports it had tried to shut down the Jho Low parody account on X (formerly Twitter) after pressure from President Nikos Christodoulides.

Instead, police had moved to “inform the platform” to examine whether X’s own terms and conditions had been violated by the parody account.

“This is a procedure we follow when citizens file complaints over accounts that potentially violate certain terms of use,” police said in a statement.

However, a screenshot posted on the parody account – which goes by the translated moniker ‘Jho Low Presidential Godson’ details a message from Twitter (X) saying it received a request from the police cybercrime unit, claiming the content violates Cyprus’ laws – as opposed to the company terms and conditions.

X specified it was not taking any action in connection with the request.

Police’s attempts at clarification came after a report in Politis that said Christodoulides had exerted pressure to try and silence the contentious parody account, as it has been particularly vociferous in trying to bring to light nationwide scandals.

It was also the account that resurfaced the allegations that permanent secretary to the health ministry Christina Yiannaki did not have sufficient proficiency in the English language for her position. It also raised questions over the authenticity of Yiannaki’s qualifications.

According to Politis, Christodoulides has made repeated phone calls to the police leadership, wanting to find a way to shut down the “annoying” parody account, which has been operating since March 2021.

The legal service has had no involvement in the matter, the report said.

In its own subsequent statement, police sought to stress that it followed due process when complaints are filed from members of the public.

Police “do not have the authority to shut down accounts on any platform and has no aim to silence anyone.

“There were reports and we followed the procedure we follow under these circumstances.”

The police complaint was filed earlier this week. The parody account has made other posts about state officials in Cyprus that have sparked controversy. It currently has a following of more than 8,000 people.

The account is named after Jho Low, the Malaysian fugitive who was granted a Cyprus passport under the now defunct golden passport scheme.