AL-MUKALLA: Several social media platforms have deactivated more than a dozen Houthi-linked profiles in Yemen that promote violence and push for child recruitment.
Yemen’s information minister said that the shutdown was in response to a request from the internationally recognized government to prevent the Houthis from using social media to propagate their ideologies.
Muammar Al-Eryani said Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube shut down official Houthi media, including the Houthi version of the official news agency SABA and military and propaganda accounts, accusing them of adopting a narrative that incites violence and hatred, promotes terrorism, and brainwashes Yemeni children.
“We applaud this step, which we have repeatedly demanded, and warn that these platforms are identical to those run by terrorist organizations such as Daesh and Al-Qaeda,” the minister said on Twitter, calling on satellite operators and web servers to close down TV channels and websites affiliated with the Houthis.
“We renew our call on all international platforms and satellites to block TV channels, websites, and pages linked with the Houthi militia, which is listed as a terrorist organization in Yemen and a number of other countries.”
The Houthis said that YouTube shut down 18 allied channels for their military media and production channels that produce religious and military chants and songs that incite supporters to join them, claiming that these channels have hundreds of thousands of subscribers and more than 7,000 videos.
They also said that Facebook shut down the accounts of the SABA news agency and the Ansarallah Media Center.
Yemeni officials maintain that the Houthis have used social media to recruit Yemeni children to their annual summer camps, where they are indoctrinated, encouraged to fight Houthi opponents, and given military training.
Even during the current UN-brokered ceasefire, the Houthis used their Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts to incite people to join them.
