Twitter, the popular micro-blogging networking site has announced it will be blocking tweets from being viewed in specific regions and countries, allowing it to censor tweets on certain topics to countries who want to censor them. The country-blocked tweets will still be visible internationally however.
Some might see it as a flak on the freedom of expression but according to twitter the freedom “carries with it responsibilities, and has limits.” Twitter wrote on its blog post announcing the decision:
As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. 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. One of our core values as a company is to defend and respect each user’s voice. We try to keep content up wherever and whenever we can, and we will be transparent with users when we can’t. The Tweets must continue to flow.
Twitter says it has not yet used this tweet censor ability, but has built in measures to cmark the blocked tweets and it’ll let the users know the reasons as to why their content has been blocked in specific regions.
