Microblogging giant Twitter is at the center of controversy today following the announcement of a new policy that will allow Twitter to effectively block or remove content.
“As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression,” Twitter announced on its official 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 post adds, “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.”
For now, Twitter says the content censorship is yet to go into effect.
We haven’t yet used this ability, but if and when we are required to withhold a Tweet in a specific country, we will attempt to let the user know, and we will clearly mark when the content has been withheld.
Do you believe Twitter is taking an appropriate action or has the social media platform overstepped its boundaries to restrict the free-flow of communication, regardless of how insensitive or incendiary it may be at times?
