Twitter’s country-specific censorship tool prompts user protest

Some Twitter users say they will stop using the service on Jan 28 in protest of the company’s new rule that allows for content to be blocked in specific countries. Posting messages with the hashtags “#TwitterBlackout” and “#TwitterCensored,” users vowed to let the company know that they opposed the new policy. Several of the tweets were in Arabic.

The policy will enable the company to block specific tweets on a country-by-country basis when the content runs afoul of local laws. Several global companies, including Google and Facebook, already have similar policies to remove content to comply with individual countries’ laws regarding speech — one of the most commonly cited examples of a law like this is Germany’s prohibition against pro-Nazi content. Critics worry that Twitter’s policy will destroy its capability to work as a platform for impromptu social movements, a role it played so prominently during the Arab Spring.