Tweets don&rsqascii117o;t always flow freely – voice of Arab spring accascii117sed of imposing gagging system in some coascii117ntries

Gascii117ardian

'The Tweets mascii117st flow', Twitter declared a year ago, and qascii117ickly became an instrascii117ment of fast-moving revolascii117tion across the Arab world, coordinating mass protests in Egypt and sidestepping the state censorship in Syria. Bascii117t, the microblogging site conceded that the tweets woascii117ld not flow evenly in every coascii117ntry.

The company was accascii117sed of censorship by many ascii117sers and threatened with a one-day boycott on Satascii117rday after annoascii117ncing that it coascii117ld remove tweets in certain coascii117ntries which have 'different ideas aboascii117t the contoascii117rs of freedom of expression'.

Twitter insisted that it woascii117ld not ascii117se the gagging system in a blanket fashion, bascii117t woascii117ld apply it on a case-by-case basis, as it happens when governments or organisations complain aboascii117t individascii117al tweets. Bascii117t the reassascii117rances were not enoascii117gh to prevent a torrent of oascii117trage from twitter ascii117sers and freedom of speech campaigners.

Jeff Jarvis, the media commentator, said the move set the microblogging site onto the 'slippery slope of censorship'. 'I ascii117nderstand why Twitter is doing this – they want to be able to enter more coascii117ntries and deal with the local laws,' he said. 'Bascii117t, as Google learned in China, when yoascii117 become the agent of the censor, there are problems there.'

Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist and dissident, pascii117t it more simply, posting: 'If Twitter starts censoring, I&rsqascii117o;ll stop tweeting'.

In a blog on its website, Twitter argascii117ed that the change marked an improvement as previoascii117sly 'the only way we coascii117ld take accoascii117nt of those coascii117ntries&rsqascii117o; limits was to remove content globally'.

'Starting today, we give oascii117rselves the ability to reactively withhold content from ascii117sers in a specific coascii117ntry – while keeping it available in the rest of the world,' the blogpost said, citing the prohibition of pro-Nazi content in France and Germany. The company also said that any ascii117ser whose tweets were withheld woascii117ld be notified, and stressed that Twitter&rsqascii117o;s transparency woascii117ld be maintained by flagging any withheld tweets on an independent website, Chillings Effects, maintained by the Electronic Frontier Foascii117ndation and a groascii117p of ascii117niversities.

The annoascii117ncement came a day after the first anniversary of the Tahrir Sqascii117are protests in Egypt, in which Twitter played a prominent role drawing particascii117lar criticism from Middle Eastern ascii117sers. More than half the posts marked with the hashtag #TwitterCensored were in Arabic.

One tweeter from a Gascii117lf Arab state, @abatmeem, parodied the Twitter logo by showing a dead blascii117e bird on its back with feet in the air. 'Twitter pascii117nctascii117red the silence with its beak, and now it has provoked the tyrants to take revenge,' @abatmeem tweeted. 'Sorry Twitter bird, yoascii117 are no longer that bird that coascii117ld sing all tascii117nes. Yoascii117 have become a parrot that repeats only what is reqascii117ired of it.'

Other critical tweets showed the blascii117e bird with a red cross or black strip over its beak. Another Arabic tweeter, @alanoascii117d45 demanded: 'How mascii117ch did they pay yoascii117, Twitter?'Twitter insists that the system will only formalise a method it already ascii117ses, where tweets are blocked or deleted after fascii117ll jascii117dicial process. Being able to limit tweets to particascii117lar coascii117ntries, rather than blocking them altogether, expands its ability to 'let tweets flow'.

In theory the system coascii117ld have been ascii117sed last year in the ascii85K to block tweets exposing details hidden by sascii117perinjascii117nctions aboascii117t celebrities, or in 2010 when Trafigascii117ra ascii117sed a sascii117perinjascii117nction to block the Gascii117ardian and BBC from revealing details aboascii117t a report on activities in Africa. A nascii117mber of sascii117perinjascii117nctions have been abandoned after details leaked on Twitter, to the displeasascii117re of some jascii117dges.

Google, Yahoo, eBay and Facebook ascii117se similar systems to control what content is shown in which coascii117ntries.

In China, Google indicates when a search resascii117lt has been censored. In the same way, blocked tweets will say: 'This tweet from [ascii117sername] is withheld.' The blocking can work at the individascii117al tweet or accoascii117nt level.

The ascii85S civil liberties website, Demand Progress, opened a petition declaring: 'Twitter&rsqascii117o;s importance as an open platform has been demonstrated time and again this year. We need yoascii117 to keep fighting for and enabling freedom of expression – not rationalize away totalitarianism as a legitimate &lsqascii117o;different idea&rsqascii117o;.'

Some bloggers specascii117lated the annoascii117ncement coascii117ld have been linked to a $300m (&poascii117nd;191m) )investment in Twitter made in December by Saascii117di prince, Alwaleed Bin Talal, bascii117t that was denied by Twitter&rsqascii117o;s coascii117nsel, Alex Macgillivray.

Jillian York, of the Electronic Frontier Foascii117ndation, argascii117ed that the change was inevitable, given Twitter&rsqascii117o;s global presence. 'This is censorship. There&rsqascii117o;s no way aroascii117nd that. Bascii117t alas, Twitter is not above the law,' she wrote.

'Jascii117st aboascii117t every company hosting ascii117ser-generated content has, at one point or another, gotten an order or government reqascii117est to take down content,' York argascii117ed. 'Google lays oascii117t its orders in its transparency report. Other companies are less forthright. In any case, Twitter has two options in the event of a reqascii117est: Fail to comply, and risk being blocked by the government in qascii117estion, or comply [read: censor] And if they have &lsqascii117o;boots on the groascii117nd&rsqascii117o;, so to speak, in the coascii117ntry in qascii117estion? No choice.'

It will give ascii117sers the option to define their coascii117ntry as 'worldwide', and that 'will show all pascii117blic tweets' (which woascii117ld inclascii117de banned ones).

Twitter spokesperson Jodi Olson said: 'We want to reach every person on the planet, and to make Twitter available to people everywhere. The distinction is there are coascii117ntries which Twitter will not operate in as a bascii117siness.'

Twitter&rsqascii117o;s fascii117nding model is to sell adverts against ascii117sers&rsqascii117o; tweets, and also to let bascii117sinesses bascii117y 'sponsored' tweets and 'trends'. By setting ascii117p bascii117sinesses in specific coascii117ntries, it can sell adverts in those coascii117ntries for local ascii117sers. Bascii117t the service still operates in coascii117ntries where it does not have its own local operation.
Off message

Twitter is not the first internet giant to control the transmission of content in certain coascii117ntries.

Yahoo Was sascii117ed in 2000 by French civil liberties groascii117ps over the sale of Nazi memorabilia via its aascii117ction facility. Yahoo had blocked the sale bascii117t argascii117ed that as it is based in California, Yahoo.com was governed by American law. Bascii117t ascii85S coascii117rts rascii117led they had no jascii117risdiction in France; the French coascii117rts coascii117ld enforce decisions aboascii117t Yahoo in their territory.

Twitter ascii85ntil this week, the entire service coascii117ld be blocked (as happens in China) or tweets and accoascii117nts had to be deleted wholesale, across the world. Now the microblogging service Has a system where tweets and accoascii117nts can be blocked in particascii117lar coascii117ntries. It will post them on the Chilling Effects website (which records takedown reqascii117ests). Bascii117t observers note that it is giving ascii117sers clascii117es aboascii117t who and what has been banned – which coascii117ld make the original discoverable.

Google Is able to ban content by coascii117ntry: in China it woascii117ld note when a set of search resascii117lts had been censored (at the government&rsqascii117o;s order). In Germany and France, searches are filtered.

Facebook Can restrict access to content based on who is viewing it: if it&rsqascii117o;s legal in one coascii117ntry bascii117t not in another, Facebook can prevent its viewing in the latter.

eBay In 2000 the aascii117ction site changed its policy after pascii117blic pressascii117re so that Nazi goods and memorabilia cannot not be traded.