Twitter Vs Olympics Protesters: After Account Suspension London 2012 Demonstrators Fight Back

Olympics Protesters Fight Back After Twitter Suspends Their Account
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Protestors against the London Olympics, who had their Twitter account suspended after games' organisers complained, have stepped up their campaign against London 2012.

@spacehijackers had their account suspended on Wednesday after Locog complained that the doctored logo used by the protesters on their Twitter page was violating the site's rules on "brand violation."

Given 48 hours to comply with the guidelines, the self christened "Official London 2012 Protesters" have now changed their page.

Twitter has strict rules on using "official" logos. In the same way that users of the site must make it clear that parody accounts are just that, it states that "accounts using business names and/or logos to mislead others will be permanently suspended".

However support is mounting for the fledgling campaigners and they have fought back with a twibbon that allows users of the micro-blogging site to use the protest logo on their avatar.

Looking remarkably similar to the London 2012 icon, it remains to be seen how long Twitter users will be able to have the logo on their picture, if Twitter is to stick to its "brand violation" policy.

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People are adding the "official London 2012" protest logo to their Twitter avatar

However, after the uproar prompted by Twitter's suspension of @spacehijackers account will the site dare?

The protest group is now sending up Twitters wording, declaring themselves "official" protesters, and advertising a place to buy "official protest tickets" and "official protest T-shirts."

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Charlie Brooker has joined in with the protesters, his Twitter page sending up the organisers.

The protest organisation lambasted the social media site's suffocation of free speech on their website, saying that Twitter was simply pandering to big business.

"Twitter, the beacon of free speech which so vocally lent its support to the Arab Spring did, of course, what everyone expected and immediately curtailed to the interests of big money and business.

We, The Official Protesters, were immediately locked out of our account, losing access to thousands of followers, in a move designed to silence our dissent."

Their Twitter page now reads:

"We reject any 'Trademark Connection' or 'Brand Affiliation' Locog tries to make to us. Seriously guys it's getting embarrassing, stop trying to make friends"

The protesters believe that the London Olympics courts "oppression, privatization and the erosion of public space". Listing the ten reasons they believe that the Games should be protested against, they write on their website:

"We're not opposed to the sports events, and we're all in favour of having a big party – but only if everyone's invited."