MANAGUA, NICARAGUA (The Grayzone<\/a>) \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0Just days before Nicaragua\u2019s November 7 elections, top social media platforms censored top Nicaraguan news outlets and hundreds of journalists and activists who support their country\u2019s leftist Sandinista government.<\/p>\n The politically motivated campaign of Silicon Valley censorship amounted to a massive purge of Sandinista supporters one week before the vote. It followed\u00a0US government attacks on the integrity of Nicaragua\u2019s elections,<\/a>\u00a0and Washington\u2019s insistence that it will refuse to recognize the results.<\/p>\n The United States sponsored a\u00a0sadistically violent coup attempt in Nicaragua<\/a>\u00a0in 2018, which resulted in hundreds of deaths in a desperate effort to overthrow the democratically elected government of President Daniel Ortega.<\/p>\n Since the putsch failed, both the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations have\u00a0imposed several rounds of devastating sanctions on Nicaragua<\/a>. The US\u00a0Congress plans to levy new heavy-handed sanctions against Nicaragua<\/a>\u00a0following the November 7 elections.<\/p>\n Silicon Valley\u2019s crackdown on pro-Sandinista journalists and activists was part and parcel of the US government\u2019s political assault on Nicaragua.<\/p>\n Facebook and Instagram \u2013 both of which are owned by the newly rebranded Big Tech giant Meta \u2013 suspended 1,300 Nicaragua-based accounts run by pro-Sandinista media outlets, journalists, and activists in a large-scale crackdown on October 31.<\/p>\n Days before, Twitter did the same, purging many prominent pro-Sandinista journalists and influencers.<\/p>\n On November 1, Sandinista activists whose accounts were suspended by Facebook and Instagram responded by posting videos on Twitter, showing the world that they are indeed real people. But Twitter suspended their accounts as well, seeking to erase all evidence demonstrating that these Nicaraguans are not government bots or part of a coordinated inauthentic operation.<\/p>\n Twitter\u2019s follow-up censorship was effectively a\u00a0double-tap strike<\/a>\u00a0on the freedom of speech of Nicaraguans, whose apparent misdeed is expressing political views that challenge Washington\u2019s objectives.<\/p>\n Insane! Facebook\/Instagram falsely claimed left-wing Nicaraguans are govt-run bots, censoring them. So they posted videos on Twitter showing they’re real. But now Twitter is suspending them too!<\/p>\n This is a coordinated purge of Sandinistas, days before Nicaragua’s Nov. 7 election https:\/\/t.co\/sB7COoxl7Q<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/E2EPVAK5tx<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) November 1, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n