Twitter Starts Withholding Rather Than Deleting Copyright-Infringing Tweets

SternisheFan writes "Twitter is now withholding tweets when people complain they contain or link to copyright-infringing material, rather than deleting them. The company's legal policy manager, Jeremy Kessel, said in a tweet on Saturday that the shift offers Twitter users 'more transparency' in the way the service processes copyright reports. This is because other users can now see what was removed and why, rather than just not being able to see the message. The copyright notices that Twitter receives can be seen on the Chilling Effects website, where the firm posts all such messages with personal details excised. Some call for messages to be axed because they contain a copyrighted image, while others note that certain tweets contain links to unlawful copies of games and other media on the web. Other types of censorship can also be seen on Twitter's Chilling Effects page, notably instances where certain messages had to be withheld in certain countries due to local laws regarding privacy or political freedom."

Comments

Friggin' legalese

[vikingpower]

Sooner or later we are all going to be kept hostage by what corporate lawyers etc. dictate us to do or not to do. Where are the days of the 90s internet ??

Re:Friggin' legalese

[History's Coming To]

Indeed - from an outsider's view the US seems to be entirely geared to generating money for lawyers. "Think life's unfair? Hey, just sue! Chances are we can scare your chosen victim with a very big number and a dollar sign, so they'll just give you some money! (And give us a lot more, and if they refuse you have to make up the difference."

It really is depressing, I've found myself wondering whether the smart move is to ensure I have no real assets, so if I am taken to court over something I can just laugh at them, go bankrupt and spend the rest of my life in prison for inability to pay a fine (OK, there are downsides to prison, but you can teach yourself a lot of theoretical physics as long as you have a crayon and paper).

Being too poor to sue does seem to be the only deterrent.

Re:Friggin' legalese

[Anonymous Coward]

Where are the days of the 90s internet ??

They're in the 1990's. Perhaps you can telnet yourself back there.

Good Move

[Compaqt]

For those who can't be bothered to even read the summary, this is not more censorship, it can actually be seen as less.

Instead of deleting the tweet whole, they'll be logging the deletions at Chilling Effects.

Re:Good Move

[jonadab]

> this is not more censorship, it can actually be seen as less.

The amount of censorship that is actually happening is the same. The difference is, now it's easier for people to find out that it is happening, and (at least in general terms) why.

So while it's not less censorship as such, it is an improvement.

Re:Good Move

[Sarten-X]

So the place ( the internet ) we had for ourselves, as a true nearly-free place, is gone -- and ruled by lawyers and legalese. THAT is my point.

The Internet is not a place, and never was. It is, and always has been, a network of computing devices. When those devices are operated by an entity that is subject to a nation's laws, they are required to comply with those laws, and this has always been the case.

While the culture of Internet users has long enjoyed its "Wild West" anarchy, the eventual expansion of civilization and enforcement will not be stopped, because it comes with the order and security that people like so much.

Someday, people will make movies about the Internet as we now make westerns - where the faceless vigilante Anonymous fights against the ever-advancing government, and the pirate trades his wares in the smoky BBS and BitTorrent, while the evil baron Industry forces people to work in the data mines under the oppression of DRM slavery. Our hero, the lone onion router, drifts through the town, redirecting users' traffic and setting up an underground wealth redistribution so they can briefly live free from Industry's influence, and in doing so he wins the heart of the naive and innocent User.