Members of Twitter tweeted outrage yesterday over a controversial company policy to censor messages that may break local laws in specific countries.
But the twitterati said the policy amounted to censorship. “This is very bad news,” tweeted Egyptian activist Mahmoud Salem. “Is . . . Twitter is selling us out?”
Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei tweeted: “If Twitter censors, I’ll stop tweeting.” Twitter is banned in China.
But Twitter said the policy is actually an improvement. Previously, when Twitter deleted a tweet, it disappeared throughout the world. Now, a tweet can be taken down in one country but still be seen elsewhere.