Twitter account of Chinese Embassy in US locked over tweet on Uyghur women

New York: Twitter has blocked the account of Chinese Embassy in the US over its earlier tweet which claimed that Uyghur women in Xinjiang region are now "emancipated" and no longer "baby-making machines.

"We`ve taken action on a Tweet (posted on January 7) you referenced for violating our policy against dehumanization, where it states: We prohibit the dehumanization of a group of people based on their religion, caste, age, disability, serious disease, national origin, race, or ethnicity," a Twitter spokesperson was quoted as saying in several media reports.

The tweet was originally shared on Thursday (January 7) has now been replaced with a label that says it is no longer available. The Chinese embassy`s post had drawn ire on social media and called for Twitter to remove it given the Chinese government`s oppressive campaign against Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

The microblogging site said that the tweet violated its policies on dehumanisation, Middle East Eye reported citing Ars Technica technology news website." After further review, we have taken action on this tweet for violating our rules on dehumanisation," a Twitter spokesperson told the Ars Technica technology news website.

"We prohibit dehumanisation of a group of people based on their religion, race or ethnicity, among other categories," the spokesperson added.

On January 7, the Chinese embassy shared a report by Chinese state media outlet China Daily and wrote: "Study shows that in the process of eradicating extremism, the minds of Uyghur women in Xinjiang were emancipated and gender equality and reproductive health were promoted, making them no longer baby-making machines. They are more confident and independent."

The study and press released from the Chinese government attributed the decrease in population growth to family planning programs and increased education, which religious extremism "incited people to resist," according to another press release from the embassy.

The experts believe that the Uyghurs women in Xinjiang are forced to undergo sterilisation. According to credible reports, more than one million people, are or have been, detained in what is being called `political re-education` centres, in the largest mass incarceration of an ethnic minority population in the world today.

The internment camp system in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is expanding, with more than 380 suspected detention facilities having been newly built or expanded since 2017, and at least 61 detention sites newly constructed or expanded between July 2019 and July 2020. In September, China acknowledged a drop in birth rates in Xinjiang but has denied reports of forced sterilization and genocide in its far western region.