By Star Chang, posted Jan 27, 2012 at 10:53 AM, 465 views,

Twitter Censoring Tweets, Ready to Go China ?

Twitter announced that it would begin restricting Tweets in certain countries. Twitter will reactively withhold content from users in some specific countries while keeping it available in the rest of the world. It has built a mechanism to inform users in the event that a Tweet is being blocked, to retain some transparency. As the company continue to grow internationally, Twitter is trying to enter those countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. With the possibility of such restrictions, is twitter ready to enter the big China market ?

Twitter’s decision to begin censoring content represents a significant departure from its policy just one year ago, when anti-government protesters in Egypt and other Arab countries coordinated mass demonstrations through the social network. Twitter’s disruptive potential has became the global spotlight. Last year, China has taken a stronger action on internet censorship regarding call for protests. The communist government doesn’t want to see any commentary that deemed to be political sensitivities. Twitter’s move comes at a time when Internet companies such as Google and Facebook have wrestled with Chinese authorities over freedom of speech and privacy issues as they are trying to expand to China market.

The contradiction between China’s strict internet monitoring policy and Twitter’s core values is the most likely the biggest obstacle. As we thought, the Chinese government would usually favor its home-grown tech properties, but they have also applied intensify controls of local social media at the same time. It’s obvious that it’s more difficult for the communist China to work with foreign companies that sees things differently. Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, has also expressed his disappointment about Chinese government’s decision to block Twitter. With the restricting of Tweets, things are likely to change any time soon, Twitter might have the chance to enter China market in 2012.

SOURCE: REUTERS via engadget