Date: December 19, 2017
01) Twitter suspends white nationalists as it enforces new rules
“NEW YORK (AP) – Twitter suspended the accounts of well-known white nationalists Monday, moving swiftly to enforce its new rules aimed at reducing what it deems abusive content.
The account of far-right group Britain First, a small group that regularly posts inflammatory videos purporting to show Muslims engaged in acts of violence, was among the first to go dark. The individual accounts of two of its leaders, Jayda Fransen and Paul Golding, were also suspended.
[…]
Twitter said it would not comment on individual accounts. The company has emphasized that it takes into account many factors before making any enforcement decision, including context of the post, cultural and political considerations and the severity of the violation.
[…]
Twitter is also prohibiting users from abusing or threatening others through their profiles or usernames. The company also now bans accounts affiliated with “organizations that use or promote violence against civilians to further their causes.”
[…]
Emma Llanso, director of the free expression project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the new guidelines represent a substantial change for Twitter’s policies. But, he added, it’s not going to be immediately clear to all users what falls within the new prohibitions.”
There is a ton of weasel in there.
…First…they’re coming for the white nationalists…
…Who is next on their list?…
…Despite whatever I may think about white nationalists…I can see this is a terrible move on the part of Twitter.
Short of credible threats and fraud…no company should provide a communications service, just to turn around and interfere with the communication…concepts, unpopular findings and opinions should remain protected.
Twitter has such a massive user base…it’s essentially a public utility, in function.
