We don't actively censor tweets says Twitter chief

Post by Steven Cox on 1st February 2012
 in Social media, Twitter

Twitter's boss has defended the company's recent announcement that it can, and does, censor tweets in certain countries when asked to do so.

Chief executive Dick Costolo says it does not mean that the company is routinely monitoring the 140-character messages its users are posting.

It only took action when asked to do so by a specific country's authorities, he said, and that action only applied to the country where the concern had been raised.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal at a conference in California organised by the Journal's sister website AllThingsD.com, Costolo said: "There has been no change to our policy with respect to content on Twitter.

"This is the most honest, transparent and forward-looking way for a company to deal with the myriad of complex issues around the world that you experience when you have to operate in these countries," he added.

Costolo also said that the change of policy was not a part of Twitter's efforts to break into countries such as China and Iran.

Turning to the American presidential election, he believed that Twitter would play a central role in the campaigning, suggesting that, if candidates didn't quickly respond to comments made during debates on Twitter, they would be seen as being out of touch.

"Tomorrow morning will be too late to respond to the night before," he said.