CUBA SLAMS GOOGLE FOR BLOCKING STATE MEDIA ACCOUNTS

US tech giant Google blocked Cuban state media accounts amid the tightening of the U.S. embargo against the island nation, a senior Cuban journalist claimed on August 26, 2020.

"US tech giants are very dependent on the US administration decisions, implementing US embargo policy toward the island," Randy Alonso, director-general at popular Cuban website cubadebate.cu and Cuban television program Mesa Redonda, told Yosley Carrero of the Chinese news agency Xinhua. The accounts of the Cuban Young Communist League, Prensa Latina news agency and Cuban daily newspaper Juventud Rebelde have also been censored by US tech giants over the last few years.

"It has nothing to do with technological issues or violation of social media regulations. What is really behind the US administration stance is its geopolitical and geostrategic ambition to keep global telecommunications under its control," he added.

Alonso made the remarks after US tech giant Google blocked the accounts of the Cuban daily newspaper Granma, Cuban international broadcaster Cubavision Internacional, and Mesa Redonda, barring them from accessing Youtube channels. Although the accounts were recently reopened by Google, Alonso said "the Donald Trump administration tries to silence the voice of Cuban public media, which are also banned from accessing a number of software developed in the US.”