United kingdom Daily news: America requested that Twitter removed 679 Tweets last year (Japan asked for 98, UK and Canada asked for 11, and everyone else less than 10)

America requested that Twitter removed 679 Tweets last year (Japan asked for 98, UK and Canada asked for 11, and everyone else less than 10)

By Eddie Wrenn

PUBLISHED: 09:43 EST, 3 July 2012 | UPDATED: 10:25 EST, 3 July 2012

Twitter has followed Google's lead by publishing a 'transparency' report, listing the occasions when Governments around the world have asked the micro-blogging site to 'censor' something.

Sometimes these 'take-down notices' are due to legal or libel issues, and sometimes these notices relate to copyright issues.

Most countries have asked Twitter to remove ten or less Tweets, but there are four countries above this limit - Canada and the UK have both requested 11 take-downs, Japan has 98 - and the U.S has 679.

This means the U.S. takes up the vast number of 849 overall take-down requests for 2011.

Twitter released a list of the countries which requested Tweet 'take-downs', with the U.S. leading the way

The company said it was inspired by both 'our peers' at Google, and the upcoming Independence Day celebrations.

On the company blog, a spokesman said: 'Wednesday marks Independence Day here in the United States.

'Beyond the fireworks and barbecue, July 4th serves as an important reminder of the need to hold governments accountable, especially on behalf of those who may not have a chance to do so themselves.

'With that in mind, today weâ€™re unveiling our first Twitter Transparency Report. Inspired by the great work done by our peers, Google, the primary goal of this report is to shed more light on government requests received for user information, government requests received to withhold content, and DMCA take-down notices received from copyright holders.'

2012 is a busy year: Already in the first six months, Twitter has seen take-down requests soar

The report also provides insight on when Twitter accepts these notices, with 75 per cent of America's requests approved, although only 20 per cent of Japans.

The blog continued: 'One of our goals is to grow Twitter in a way that makes us proud.

'This ideal informs many of our policies and guides us in making difficult decisions. One example is our long-standing policy to proactively notify users of requests for their account information unless weâ€™re prohibited by law; another example is transmitting DMCA take-down notices.

'These policies help inform people, increase awareness and hold all involved parties - including ourselves - more accountable. The release of our first Transparency Report aims to further these ambitions.'

Twitter added that 'weâ€™ve received more government requests in the first half of 2012 ... than in the entirety of 2011.

'Moving forward, weâ€™ll be publishing an updated version of this information twice a year.'

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAN LEAD TO PEACEFUL TIMES

This means the U.S. takes up the vast number of 849 overall take-down requests for 2011.

Is social media censorship a means to quell a modern uprising?

Some politicians and law enforcers during the political turbulence of 2011 thought so but recent research suggests that uncensored citizens experience less violence and longer periods of peace between outbursts than communities subject to censorship.

These new findings appear in the Bulletin of Sociological Methodology, published by SAGE.

A consensus is forming around Internet censorship in the wake of last year's uprisings, extending from the Arab Spring to the UK, according to Antonio Casilli, associate professor in digital humanities at Telecom ParisTech, France and Paola Tubaro, senior lecturer in economic sociology at the University of Greenwich, UK.

The authors used sophisticated computer modeling to find out if the assumptions that actors' use of media - such as Twitter - fueled mob action through greater awareness were true.

Ambiguously, current narratives among the European political establishment suggest social media can be either the tools of liberation (in developing countries) or threats to values of peace and freedom (in Western countries).

The researchers used state-of-the-art agent-based modelling as a starting point. Political conflict is often described as cumulative, involving 'escalating' conflict and sometimes ending with regime change.

However, in reality, periods of relative stability punctuated with violent outbursts are more typical. Existing models include a variable called 'vision,' an individual agent's ability to scan his/her neighbourhood for signs of police officers and/or active protesters. Higher vision means greater awareness of one's surroundings and a larger range of possible actions.

In Casilli and Tubaro's computer simulation, censorship narrows down vision. It interrupts the flow of communication and decreases the ability of individuals to appreciate their environment. In this sense, censorship blinds social actors to their own context.

The researchers found that all possible scenarios led to initial outbursts of violence but how the situation evolved was significantly influenced by government social media censorship. In a total censorship scenario, similar to the Egyptian riots, violence levels remained at a maximum. Stronger censorship led to an increase in the average level of endemic violence over time.

According to the model, the 'no censorship' situation at first appears bleak, with incessant, high-level violent outbursts that seem larger than in other scenarios. However, looking at average violence levels over time, the uncensored scenario still has the least aggression.

Although agents protest, sometimes violently, they are able to return to relative calm for longer periods in-between. The decision to maintain peace is the choice of agents themselves, rather than due to police repression.

This research offers an interesting methodological bridge that shows how rules operating at the micro or individual level can account for collective dynamics. This is particularly interesting at a time when research is trending into two camps, either using micro-motives (such as personality, culture, and morals) or macro-indicators (such as poverty and social stratification) as explanatory factors.

'In the absence of robust indicators as to the rebelliousness of a given society, the choice of not restricting social communication turns out to be a judicious one for avoiding the surrender of democratic values and freedom of expression for an illusory sense of security,' say Casilli and Tubaro.