Twitter has refined its technology to censor messages on a country-by-country basis, raising fears that the company’s commitment to free speech may be weakening.
Many bloggers think being an agent of the censors is a slippery slope to the detriment of free speech.
Twitter — an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, known as “tweets” — was created in 2006.
Twitter was crucial in the success of protestors in the Middle East, which saw several dictatorial governments fall in quick succession during Arab Spring and following months in 2011.
Prince Walid bin Talal of Saudi Arabia invested a $300 million stake in Twitter, which has some suspicious that the investment could be a move to protect Saudi Arabia from twee-powered protests.
In January, Twitter was temporarily blocked in Egypt to counter protesting. Twitter is banned in China.
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