Social Media
Social Media

Twitter suspends ‘Professional Heckler’

Dane Dagatan

SUMMARY

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Twitter suspends ‘Professional Heckler’
(UPDATED) A longtime satirist and known Duterte critic is taken off Twitter

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – For the second time, the account of Twitter personality and vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, Professional Heckler (@HecklerForever), got suspended on Wednesday, July 25.

His followers called out Twitter for suspending the account without notifying Professional Heckler of his supposed violation. 

In an email to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which the news outlet quoted on Sunday, July 29, Professional Heckler said he believes “there’s nothing political about the suspension.”

“Twitter suspended my account after receiving a complaint from Universal Music. The subject of the complaint was an Alanis Morissette video of ‘Head Over Feet’ I tweeted several weeks back,” Professional Heckler said. 

The blogger was reportedly accused of copyright infringement.

“I filed an appeal to Twitter but was told that it can only lift the suspension if Universal Music would retract the DMCA Notice against the account. I e-mailed Universal, but have yet to receive a reply,” Professional Heckler told the Inquirer.

A multi-awarded blogger with 4 “The Philippine Best Blog Award” and at least 2 “Globe Tatt” awards, Professional Heckler has been writing satirical articles on institutions and public personalities since 2009. He has poked fun at all previous administrations and leaders since then. 

In the past few months, Twitter has been on a suspension spree, mainly targeting spammy, fake, dubious, or inactive accounts. On a daily basis, the social media platform has been suspending a record rate of 1 million accounts per day. 

Netizens and some personalities said Professional Heckler does not fall under any of those categories. 

Below are some posts by netizens calling on Twitter to reactivate the account: 

Other users called the suspension a form of “silencing democracy.”

His most recent satirized post was “LEAKED: DUTERTE’S SONA 2018,” which made fun of Duterte’s 3rd State of the Nation Address last July 23.

The Professional Heckler is not the only blogger critical of the administration who got suspended on social media. 

The Facebook account of Jover Laurio a.k.a. “Pinoy Ako Blog” also got suspended by what she suspects as mass reporting from trolls. She got it back.

The same thing happened to activist-comedian Mae Paner, who goes by the name “Juana Change”, earlier in May 2018. 

On Tuesday, July 24, a Twitter account named “UNITED DDS” (@WeAreUnitedDDS) tweeted, “Salamat po sa lahat ng mga nakilahok para masuspend uli si @HecklerForever. Isunod na po natin si @PinoyAkoBlog.” 

Previous suspension

Professional Heckler was first suspended on June 23, 2018, but was activated again on the same day.

On Facebook, he said the possible reason for the latest suspension may be his recent post entitled “Ang Pulis at ang Tambay” (the police and the bystander). 

Professional Heckler said that the people responsible for what happened to his Twitter account were trolls and keyboard warriors known to mass report personalities critical of the government. 


“I must be doing something right. But no, I won’t be silenced,” Professional Heckler said on Facebook. – Rappler.com

Dane Dagatan is a Rappler Intern. He studies Broadcast Communication at the Lyceum of the Philippines University.

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