Twitter – A Wiser Way to Censor?
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This is a change from Twitter’s previous policy of removing posts globally if it receives a request it deems legally valid from a government in which it has offices and employees — currently, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, and Germany (soon). Twitter, like all companies, is bound by the laws and regulations of all countries in which it conducts business, and cannot ignore ‘take down’ notices from these countries without legal repercussions.
There are a few reasons why this new censorship policy, if implemented honestly by Twitter, is an upgrade instead of an outrage:
Twitter’s new policy is a wise step towards combating government censorship: by publicly censoring Tweets and reporting the reasons to Chilling Effects — instead of simply making Tweets disappear without a trace — the company is letting its users know what was censored by which country and why. This is essential information for anyone who cares about internet censorship, as without it we are left to speculate about certain government’s actions and intentions.
Internet users should praise Twitter for this new policy, which implemented honestly will provide maximum transparency about its actions and give its users increased ability to monitor government censorship around the world.
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Resources:
Chilling Effects – a global anti-censorship database
The Electronic Frontier Foundation on Twitter’s new policy
The New York Times on Twitter’s new policy
Twitter’s explanation of their new policy
Twitter’s current rules
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