Twitter courts controversy with new censorship standards

Twitter is facing a storm of criticism after outlining new standards that will enable the microblogging platform to block content from users within a given international region while keeping it available across the rest of the world.

"As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression," reads a post on the Twitter blog. "Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content. Until now, the only way we could take account of those countries' limits was to remove content globally. Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country."

Twitter states it has not yet implemented the new capability, and it will attempt to let the user know when a tweet is blocked within a given country, clearly designating when content is withheld. In conjunction with the move, Twitter said it is expanding its relationship with Chilling Effects, a collaborative archive created by several law school clinics and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to safeguard lawful digital activity from legal threats.

Twitter has famously played a significant role in enabling communication in multiple citizen uprisings, most notably the Arab Spring demonstrations of 2011, where revolutionaries turned to Twitter and other social networking tools to organize protests and disseminate information. Asked by NPR whether Twitter will now abide by local laws and censor content in nations where it is illegal to criticize government regimes, a Twitter spokesperson said the company would not comment on "hypothetical situations, but can say that our policy and philosophy about the importance of supporting free expression has not changed."

NPR also asked whether the new policy indicates Twitter plans to begin operating in the Chinese market. The spokesperson said "At this time we do not see a way to operate in China that is consistent with [our free speech] philosophy."

The revamped Twitter content policy has sparked outrage across the globe, with many users taking to the platform to tweet their frustration, employing hashtags like #TwitterCensored. Many have signed an open letter demanding Twitter reverse the guidelines, while others are mounting #TwitterBlackout, vowing not to tweet on Jan. 28 in opposition to the new rules.

Twitter now boasts more than 100 million active users worldwide, 55 percent of whom are active on mobile devices. According to the Pew Internet Center, 13 percent of adult Americans who go online are on Twitter--by comparison, more than 50 percent use rival social network Facebook.

For more:
- read this Twitter blog post
- read this NPR article
- read this Guardian article

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