In censorship, Twitter fails to defend free speech

[Commentary] Twitter's decision to start censoring tweets at the request of repressive governments represents a regrettable retreat from the free-flowing ethos that has made it such an essential social networking site.

Our preference, in 140 characters or fewer, would have been for Twitter to just say no to censorship. Instead, Twitter is trying to make a good-faith effort to uphold the values of transparency and free speech while complying with the laws of countries that have no respect for either. It's a difficult balancing act, to say the least. Some might call it a fool's errand. Despite its anything-goes image, Twitter all along has been removing content that violate copyright or child pornography laws when it gets complaints. But there is something qualitatively different about having an enterprise that was founded on the principle of free expression bowing to any government's demand to suppress what should be the most basic right of any citizen to speak his or her mind. Twitter's policy is nuanced and sensitive on a matter that called for defiance and boldness.