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Recently, Twitter made an announcement on their website here that discusses a change in their technology that will allow them to actively withhold content from individual countries. Twitter views this change as an upgrade, ...
Recently, Twitter made an announcement on their website here that discusses a change in their technology that will allow them to actively withhold content from individual countries. Twitter views this change as an upgrade, as previously they were only able to remove content globally when they received a complaint. Now, if they receive an isolated complaint they have the ability to withhold that content from the specific country while leaving it available for the rest of their global audience. But this move has understandably raised eyebrows and is being viewed by some as Twitter taking a step back from their commitment to free speech.
Michael Liedtke of the Associated Press, in an article that can be viewed online here, raises some important points. He notes that although the announcement is framed in a positive way, it is likely to concern many as Twitter has become a powerful communications tool. Twitter played a vital role in the Occupy Wall Street movement in the U.S., and internationally in the civil uprisings in Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, and Tunisia. But their commitment to free speech has become difficult to reconcile with their ambitious expansion plans. In order to reach a wider audience, Twitter is going to have to enter more and more countries, increasing the likelihood that they will be dealing with domestic laws that conflict with the idea of freedom of expression.
As of January 27th, Twitter has not yet used this new technology to withhold content from an individual country. Content that is censored will be marked and Twitter will attempt to notify the user. Further, the public can view notices and complaints received by Twitter on the internet watchdog website Chilling Effects, the joint project of several American law school clinics. You can view Chilling Effect?s homepage here, and view Twitter?s ?index of notices? here.
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