<br />Twitter announces it will censor some tweets; activists worried <br />Policy would allow same message to be seen in some countries but not others <br /><br /> <br />By Nina Mandell / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS <br />Friday, January 27, 2012, 8:15 AM<br />.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Twitter service may be getting spotty in some countries.<br /><br />The micro-blogging firm announced on the company blog Thursday that it plans to change its censorship policies to comply with different countries' regulations.<br /><br />"As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression," the post read. "Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar, but for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi comment."<br /><br />PHOTOS: CELEBS WHO OVERSHARE ON TWITTER<br /><br />Users' tweets will be blocked in a country where they are against the law, but shown in nations where they are legal. For example, a pro-Nazi tweet may be scrubbed in Germany, but would appear on the user's account if read in the U.S.<br /><br />When Twitter removes a comment, it says it will clearly mark when a Tweet has been censored and send it to the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, which is creating a database of tweets deleted not only because of censorship but also as a result of cease-and-desist notices and copyright infringement.<br /><br />The news comes a year after Twitter played a crucial part in the Egyptian revolution and other Arab Spring protests.<br /><br />Twitter was also credited with being a key tool in the Iranian protests of the 2009 elections and some pundits pointed to the service as key in the 2011 Tunisian revolution.<br /><br />The move, while it could be disappointing for some revolutionaries, follows a similar policy to Google, The Associated Press pointed out — and could help Twitter expand from 100 million active users to more than 1 billion around the world.<br /><br />"One of our core values as a company is to defend and respect each user's voice. We try to keep content up wherever and whenever we can, and we will be transparent with users when we can't. The tweets must continue to flow," the company added.<br /><br />On Twitter, users protested the move with a #dontcensor campaign.<br /><br />Media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders also announced on Twitter that it would send a letter protesting the move.<br /><br />“Reporters Without Borders is very worried by #Twitter’s decision to cooperation with #censorship,” the group tweeted.<br /><br /><br />http://www.nydailynews.com/news/money/twitter-announces-censor-tweets-activists-worried-article-1.1012804<br />
Hello ACTA, SOPA, PIPA and NDAA; Anonymous and Occupy are coming for you <br /> <br /><br />FreakOutNation<br />February 28, 2012<br /><br />In a stunning move Occupy and Anonymous have joined forces in what’s called, “OUR POLLS” – A new joint effort to hold politicians accountable to We the People. The blatant disregard of our politicians from both sides of the aisle is mind boggling — so now, they’re being called out for giving into deep-pocketed lobbyists and passing laws to boost corporate profits, all at the expense of our individual liberty.<br /><br />This is not the first time Anonymous has targeted officials over their support for the NDAA. The ubiquitous group of activists dumped a massive amount of information on each elected official supporting the invasive Act.<br /><br />Their statement reads:<br /><br />Our Senators and Representatives showed how little they cared about personal freedoms when they voted overwhelmingly to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA allows for the indefinite detention of individuals based merely on a suspicion or allegation of sympathizing with questionable groups or causes. This act is a prominent threat to the inalienable due process rights of every US citizen as laid out in the Constitution. It allows the military to engage in civilian law enforcement, and to suspend due process, habeas corpus or other constitutional guarantees when desired. Our congressmen passed one of the greatest threats to civil liberties in the history of the United States. Will we hold them accountable on election day?<br /><br />Will we hold our elected officials accountable for supporting rigid Internet censorship laws such as SOPA, PIPA, HR 1981 and the ACTA treaty? The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) aimed to crack down on copyright infringement by restricting user access to websites that hosted or helped facilitate pirated content. SOPA and PIPA’s ambiguous, broad wording would have cast a wide censorship net around most of the Internet, thus creating questions of due process, burden of proof, and privacy violations. The proposed laws were lobbied and paid for by Hollywood, RIAA, MPAA and other massive media companies and would safeguard entertainment industry profits at the expense of essential freedoms, the Internet and constitutional civil liberties . Even if the goal was to merely regulate pirated content, the ambiguous wording demonstrates that the authors and supporters of SOPA and PIPA have little-to-no understanding of the Internet’s architecture or the frightening implications of the legislation.<br /><br />What can you do? You are one person. You have one vote. Use that vote on November 6 to hold your elected official accountable for supporting bills such as NDAA, SOPA and PIPA.<br /><br />We are calling on voters, activists and keyboard warriors under all banners to unite as a single force to unseat the elected representatives who threaten our essential freedoms and who were so quick to minimize our individual constitutional rights for a quick corporate profit.<br /><br />Follow @OurPolls and @AnonPAC for updates, news, leaks, and calls to action.<br /><br />Below we have a couple lists for you to consider:<br />(1) All US Senators up for reelection in 2012 who voted to support the NDAA and who still support PIPA<br /><br />(2) All US Representatives up for reelection in 2012 who voted to support the NDAA and who still support SOPA<br /><br />** Note: ALL 435 seats in the US House of Representatives are up for reelection in November 2012<br /><br />(1) US Senators Up For Reelection Who Supported NDAA and/or PIPA<br /><br />Sen. Daniel Akaka [D, HI] ^<br /><br />Sen. John Barrasso [R, WY] ^<br /><br />Sen. Jeff Bingaman [D, NM] ^ *<br /><br />Sen. Scott Brown [R, MA] ^<br /><br />Sen. Sherrod Brown [D, OH] ^<br /><br />Sen. Maria Cantwell [D, WA] ^<br /><br />Sen. Thomas Carper [D, DE] ^<br /><br />Sen. Robert Casey [D, PA] ^ *<br /><br />Sen. Kent Conrad [D, ND] ^<br /><br />Sen. Bob Corker [R, TX] ^ *<br /><br />Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D, CA] ^ *<br /><br />Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D, NY] ^<br /><br />Sen. Orrin Hatch [R, UT] ^<br /><br />Sen. Dean Heller [R, NV] ^<br /><br />Sen. Kay Hutchison [R, TX] ^<br /><br />Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D, MN] ^ *<br /><br />Sen. Herbert Kohl [D, WI] ^ *<br /><br />Sen. Jon Kyl [R, AZ] ^ *<br /><br />Sen. Richard Lugar [R, IN] ^<br /><br />Sen. John Manchin [D, WV] ^<br /><br />Sen. Claire McCaskill [D, MO] ^<br /><br />Sen. Robert Menedez [D, NJ] ^<br /><br />Sen. Ben Nelson [D, NE] ^<br /><br />Sen. Bill Nelson [D, FL] *<br /><br />Sen. Olympia Snowe [R, ME] ^<br /><br />Sen. Debbie Ann Stabenow [D, MI] ^<br /><br />Sen. John Tester [D, MT] ^<br /><br />Sen. Jim Webb [D, VA] ^<br /><br />Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D, RI] ^ *<br /><br />Sen. Roger Wicker [R, MS] ^<br /><br />^ = Supported/voted for NDAA<br /><br />* = Still support PIPA and similar law<br /><br />(2) US Representatives Up For Reelection Who Supported NDAA and/or SOPA<br /><br />Rep. Gary Ackerman (NY-5) ^<br /><br />Rep. Sandy Adams (FL-24) ^<br /><br />Rep. Robert Aderholt (AL-4) ^<br /><br />Rep. Todd Akin (MO-2) ^ †<br /><br />Rep. Rodney Alexander (LA-5) ^<br /><br />Rep. Jason Altmire (PA-4) ^<br /><br />Rep. Mark Amodei (NV-2) *<br /><br />Rep. Robert E. Andrews (NJ-1) ^<br /><br />Rep. Steve Austria (OH-7) ^ †<br /><br />Rep. Joe Baca (CA-43) ^ *<br /><br />Rep. Spencer Bachus (AL-6) ^<br /><br />Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI-2) ^ †<br /><br />Rep. John Barrow (GA-12) ^ *<br /><br />Rep. Roscoe Bartlett ^<br /><br />Rep. Joe Barton (TX-6) ^<br /><br />Rep. Charles Bass (NH-2) ^ *<br /><br />Rep. Dan Benishek (MI-1) ^<br /><br />Rep. Rick Berg (ND, at-large) ^ †<br /><br />Rep. Shelley Berkley (NV-1) ^ †<br /><br />Rep. Howard Berman (CA-28) ^ *<br /><br />Rep. Judy Biggert (IL-13) ^<br /><br />Rep. Brian Bilbray (CA-50) ^<br /><br />Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-9) ^<br /><br />Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. (GA-2) ^<br /><br />Rep. Rob Bishop (UT-1) ^<br /><br />Rep. Timothy Bishop (NY-1) ^<br /><br />Rep. Diane Black (TN-6) ^<br /><br />Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN-7) ^<br /><br />Rep. Jo Bonner (AL-1) ^<br /><br />Rep. Mary Bono Mack (CA-45) ^ *<br /><br />Rep. Dan Boren (OK-2) ^ †<br /><br />Rep. Leonard Boswell (IA-3) ^<br /><br />Special Thanks to the following in coordinating this on-going action:<br /><br />@OccupyKC<;br /><br />@Occupy_DC<;br /><br />@OccupytheNation<;br /><br />@OccupyProv<;br /><br />@OccupyPdx<;br /><br />@OccupyBaltimore<;br /><br />@Ghostpickles<;br /><br />@AnonyOps<;br /><br />@AnonymousIRC<;br /><br />@Anonops<;br /><br />@Tw1tt3rart<;br /><br />@AnonyOps_<;br /><br />@GardenSlayer<;br /><br />@OperationLeakS<;br /><br />@YourAnonNews<;br /><br />Well done. Vote ‘em out. Did our elected officials believe they would not be held accountable?<br /><br />
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