rurone:brodinsons:

Twitter to restrict user content.

Reuters, CBS, and other outlets are reporting that Twitter is going to start censoring tweets in certain countries:

Twitter announced Thursday that it would begin restricting Tweets in certain countries, marking a policy shift for the social media platform that helped propel the popular uprisings recently sweeping across the Middle East.

Please click here to sign our open letter and urge Twitter to reverse its decision to start censoring.

And this quote is just tragic, as Twitter tries to rationlize away restrictions on speech:

“As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression,” Twitter wrote in a blog post published Thursday.

From the Middle East, to Occupy, to SOPA and PIPA, the importance of open platforms like Twitter couldn’t be more clear than it is today.

• If you’re already on Facebook, click here to share with your friends.
• If you’re already on Twitter, click here to tweet about the campaign: Tweet

One of the downsides to cultural relativism is that you get statements like “countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression”.

There are policies and practices which are inferior to others. We can evaluate them on the basis of their impact on individuals, their support of existing power structures, and their power to protect immoral or criminal regimes.

(via oscar-mike)