Twitter, Democracy, and Internet Freedom

Twitter has taken fire in recent days from activists and bloggers who fear that the company’s new censorship policies will muffle online freedom. The company has introduced technology allowing them to censore tweets on a country by country basis.

News reports recall the ways in which protestors have had made use of Twitter to oppose dictatorships, and dissidents express concern that their ability to communicate will be harmed.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/29/twitter-democracy-and-internet-freedom/

The more immediate issue, however, may lie elsewhere. Twitter’s new policies demonstrate vividly the complicated relationship between Internet freedom and democratic government.