FROM PROJECT CENSORED
Australian Government Bans Political Comment on Twitter
Validated Independent NewsMay 4, 2013
In January 2012, Twitter announced that it would censor tweets if a country’s government requested them to do so. In early 2013, Twitter began actively censoring Australian tweets at the direct request of the government, making Australia “the first modern democracy to identify, filter and ban free speech whilst not in a state of War,” according to a March 15, 2013 report from Polliter.com.
A subsequent Polliter report indicates that “the Prime Minister’s own ‘public record of communications via Twitter’ @PMOPressOffice has been proven to be filtering anti-Labor comment, and suspending users that interact on that site.”
Although outright suspensions appear to be unusual, content filtering, where certain terms or tweets sent are banned from the Australian public, appears commonplace. In these instances, content blocked from Australian sites can still be viewed when using Twitter from the US or elsewhere in the world, consistent with Twitter’s stated policies.
Regardless of Twitter policy, the manipulation of commentary and opinion with the express intent of identifying and neutralizing dissenting voices is deeply problematic in any democratic society. Moreover, the practice may be in breach of Australia’s privacy act and, possibly, the Wire Services & Carriage and Personal Surveillance laws, which forbid eavesdropping or manipulation of a carriage service, even a private one, without a court order.
Sources:
“Aust Gov’t bans political comment on Twitter,” Polliter, March 15, 2013. http://polliter.com/2013/03/15/exclusive-aust-govt-bans-political-comment-on-twitter/
W Dallas Brooks, “The Tweets The PM Says You Are NOT Allowed To See,” Polliter.com, March 27, 2013. http://polliter.com/2013/03/27/the-tweets-the-pm-says-you-are-not-allowed-to-see/
Danny Sullivan, “Twitter Now Able To Censor Tweets, If Required By Law, On A Country-By-Country Basis,” Marketing Land, January 26, 2013. http://marketingland.com/twitter-now-able-to-censor-tweets-by-country-4531
Bianca Bosker, “Twitter To Censor Tweets In Some Countries,” Huffington Post, January 26, 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/twitter-to-censor-tweets-in-some-countries_n_1235116.html
Faculty Researcher/Evaluator: Andy Lee Roth, College of Marin
