Categories: Social Media

Tweets must continue to flow, in some countries

Twitter has announced that it will begin to censor tweets and accounts on a country-by-country basis, revealing the company’s intent to expand further internationally while adhering to various countries’ “limits” on freedom of expression.

Previously, if Twitter was forced to remove a tweet it would be done so globally, effecting all users. Now, tweets can be selectively blocked from users in specific countries to comply solely with national restrictions.

When tweets or entire accounts are censored from a user’s stream, they will now be served a notice in lieu of such, explaining the reason behind the removal.

Twitter receives requests for the removal of certain tweets under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) on an almost daily basis. Most of the takedown notices refer to specific tweets linking to websites containing copyrighted music videos, movies and clips of sporting events. Twitter has likely received similar notices from disgruntled governments around the world, unhappy with the uncontrolled flow of information.

In its defense, Twitter has stated that its service simply could not exist in some countries without allowing tweets to be censored in some way. This compromise to enable Twitter to exist in emerging countries may be described as unhealthy by some, but may be necessary to allow the tweets to flow in some form, however restricted.

Albizu Garcia

Albizu Garcia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gain -- a marketing technology company that automates the social media and content publishing workflow for agencies and social media managers, their clients and anyone working in teams.

View Comments

Recent Posts

With surge in AI-generated code creates security concerns, DeepSources launches trio of autonomous AI agents for DevSecOps 

Autonomous, AI-powered employees are set to begin roaming corporate networks sooner than expected, marking the…

2 days ago

As carcinogenic chemicals from cleaning products hit the headlines, Viking Pure Solutions is protecting employees from harm

Despite the ongoing fight to reduce, reuse and recycle plastics, when it comes to environmental…

2 days ago

Muddy Waters vs. AppLovin: Why Investors Might Be the Real Target

Muddy Waters’ recent short report on AppLovin reads serious. Abuse, violations, an impending takedown. But…

2 days ago

Trump’s Tariff Policy: An Apparent Double Standard for Apple?

Do you know how I knew that Trump would be the 47th President of the…

2 days ago

These travel bloggers have the best tips on how to make the most of your trip to the UK

From Stonehenge to the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace to the Angel of North, there’s…

4 days ago

The science of what we eat: The NYU math grad bringing sustainable olive oil to your kitchen (Brains Byte Back Podcast)

When it comes to what we eat, more of us are asking the right questions:…

5 days ago