Twitter Will Censor Certain Tweets In Certain Countries • Hacker News Board

Re: Twitter Will Censor Certain Tweets In Certain Countries

#11

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jan 26, 2012, 11:17 PM UTC

Karunamon wrote: post #8

dustineichler wrote: post #3

This is weird. Freedom shouldn't be the price you pay to operate in any country. Is it passe to push American ideals abroad.

No, but when it comes down to "Censor stuff when asked" or "Don't bother setting up shop at all", any rational person would take option #1. So let's see, you're Google, and you want to set up your search engine in China. "Not so fast" says the local big cheeses. "You have to censor search results in compliance with laws X Y and Z. If you do not, your employees will be jailed and you will be shut down." As a Chinese c…

[deleted]

Re: Twitter Will Censor Certain Tweets In Certain Countries

#12

Post by Karunamon » Thu, Jan 26, 2012, 11:19 PM UTC

ppod wrote: post #10

Karunamon wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but when it comes down to "Censor stuff when asked" or "Don't bother setting up shop at all", any rational person would take option #1. So let's see, you're Google, and you want to set up your search engine in China. "Not so fast" says the local big cheeses. "You have to censor search results in compliance with laws X Y and Z. If you do not, your employees will be jailed and you will be shut down." As a Chinese c…

I see your point, but it's a little simplistic. By opening and complying with the law you are to a certain extent validating or condoning that law. By agreeing to abide by China's rules Google to some extent takes pressure off the Chinese government.

>By agreeing to abide by China's rules Google to some extent takes pressure off the Chinese government.

How do you figure that? A search engine company in the united states probably isn't in the best position to be dictating foreign policy. Any "pressure" they could exert (on China, especially) by saying "We're staying away due to your crappy laws" is minimal at best.

Besides, they already left due to (ostensibly) government agents trying to hack into their systems.

Re: Twitter Will Censor Certain Tweets In Certain Countries

#13

Post by Maxious » Thu, Jan 26, 2012, 11:20 PM UTC

slig wrote: post #7

They can't even block the most idiotic kind of spam[1], and now they will get this magic NLP working? Ha. [1] @reply tweets from newly created accounts.

Seriously, the spammers aren't even using new messages (bar the infamous @Horse_ebooks). Just ban people saying that exact message with that exact spam URL.

Re: Twitter Will Censor Certain Tweets In Certain Countries

#14

Post by _delirium » Thu, Jan 26, 2012, 11:20 PM UTC

Karunamon wrote: post #8

dustineichler wrote: post #3

This is weird. Freedom shouldn't be the price you pay to operate in any country. Is it passe to push American ideals abroad.

No, but when it comes down to "Censor stuff when asked" or "Don't bother setting up shop at all", any rational person would take option #1. So let's see, you're Google, and you want to set up your search engine in China. "Not so fast" says the local big cheeses. "You have to censor search results in compliance with laws X Y and Z. If you do not, your employees will be jailed and you will be shut down." As a Chinese c…

But in actuality Google decided B was a mistake, and has switched to A: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/23/google-chin...

Re: Twitter Will Censor Certain Tweets In Certain Countries

#15

Post by cft » Thu, Jan 26, 2012, 11:23 PM UTC

Note how twitter did not do anything as a SOPA protest, unlike Google or Wikipedia. They are a (any) government-aligned company, and they probably enjoy unusually close ties with FBI and CIA (their role in the Arab Spring would ensure that for example).

Re: Twitter Will Censor Certain Tweets In Certain Countries

#16

Post by dantheman » Thu, Jan 26, 2012, 11:33 PM UTC

Here's the new API for withheld content:

  "text": "@chatty's account is withheld in: Greece, Hong Kong, Malaysia,.",
  "withheld_scope": "user",
  "withheld_in_countries": "GR, HK, MY",

https://dev.twitter.com/blog/new-withheld-content-fields-api...

Re: Twitter Will Censor Certain Tweets In Certain Countries

#17

Post by blake8086 » Thu, Jan 26, 2012, 11:39 PM UTC

Karunamon wrote: post #8

dustineichler wrote: post #3

This is weird. Freedom shouldn't be the price you pay to operate in any country. Is it passe to push American ideals abroad.

No, but when it comes down to "Censor stuff when asked" or "Don't bother setting up shop at all", any rational person would take option #1. So let's see, you're Google, and you want to set up your search engine in China. "Not so fast" says the local big cheeses. "You have to censor search results in compliance with laws X Y and Z. If you do not, your employees will be jailed and you will be shut down." As a Chinese c…

Gosh, I would have written

      Google         Freedom
 A      0               1
 B      1               -1
 C      -1              1

Re: Twitter Will Censor Certain Tweets In Certain Countries

#18

Post by Karunamon » Thu, Jan 26, 2012, 11:41 PM UTC

blake8086 wrote: post #17

Karunamon wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but when it comes down to "Censor stuff when asked" or "Don't bother setting up shop at all", any rational person would take option #1. So let's see, you're Google, and you want to set up your search engine in China. "Not so fast" says the local big cheeses. "You have to censor search results in compliance with laws X Y and Z. If you do not, your employees will be jailed and you will be shut down." As a Chinese c…

Gosh, I would have written Google Freedom A 0 1 B 1 -1 C -1 1

How does a new search engine complying with existing laws impact "freedom" (a nebulous concept) in any meaningful way?

Re: Twitter Will Censor Certain Tweets In Certain Countries

#19

Post by sschueller » Thu, Jan 26, 2012, 11:42 PM UTC

That is what happens when a Saudi Prince invests $300m in a tool that could bring an unwanted uprising in his country. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/saudi-prince-invests-...

Re: Twitter Will Censor Certain Tweets In Certain Countries

#20

Post by droithomme » Thu, Jan 26, 2012, 11:44 PM UTC

A useful new web service to complement this would be a site to determine which tweets are censored in which countries and publicly log them for convenient searching and analysis.