• Marketing Land
  • Sections
    • CMO
    • Social
    • SEM
    • SEO
    • Analytics
    • Display
    • Retail
    • MarTech
    • Resources
    • More
    • Home
  • Marketing Land
  • CMO
  • Social
  • SEM
  • SEO
  • Analytics
  • Display
  • Retail
  • MarTech
  • Resources
  • More
  • SUBSCRIBE

Marketing Land

Marketing Land
  • CMO
  • Social
  • SEM
  • SEO
  • Analytics
  • Display
  • Retail
  • MarTech
  • Resources
  • More
  • Home
  • Newsletters
  • Home
CMO Zone

Twitter Takes First Country-Specific Censorship Action, Against Hate Group In Germany

Earlier this year, Twitter added the ability to block Twitter accounts and tweets by a country-by-country basis, in case it needed to respond to legal requests. Nine months later, the company has done this for the first time, for a hate group based in Germany. The Financial Times spotted the action and reported it in […]

Danny Sullivan on October 17, 2012 at 10:11 pm
  • More

Twitter LogoEarlier this year, Twitter added the ability to block Twitter accounts and tweets by a country-by-country basis, in case it needed to respond to legal requests. Nine months later, the company has done this for the first time, for a hate group based in Germany.

The Financial Times spotted the action and reported it in a blog post today. The story come out of information Twitter sent to Chilling Effects last month, part of Twitter’s mechanism for being transparent about censorship requests.

The Chilling Effects filing reveals that a Germany ministry (the Ministry of the Interior for Lower-Saxony) had banned the “Besseres Hannover” organization. The group, “Better Hanover” in English, is apparently a neo-Nazi organization, which are not allowed under German law.

As part of the disbanding, the ministry also ordered that its social media account be seized. From the letter sent to Twitter:

The organisation “Besseres Hannover” uses the Twitter account….

https://twitter.com/hannoverticker

I ask you to close this account immediately and not to open any substitute accounts for the organisation “Besseres Hannover”.

The account actually continues to stay open, as you can see below, a screenshot from me accessing it:

But that’s because I’m in the US. If I were in Germany, I shouldn’t be able to access it. In Germany, people should see something like this (with the “Learn more” text leading to the Chilling Effects filing):

This is part of the wink-wink system of “censorship” that’s long been operated by Google. The search engine, similar to Google, may “ban” pages from appearing in certain countries. But those outside those countries (or those able to pretend they are outside of it) can still access the content.

Twitter confirmed to me that this was the first time they’ve done country-specific censorship like this, and Twitter’s general counsel Alex Macgillivray has also tweeted the same, saying:

We announced the ability to withhold content back in Jan. We’re using it now for the first time re: a group deemed illegal in Germany.

The group, by the way, doesn’t appear to have social media accounts with Google+ or Facebook. It could be that it did have these, but that they were closed without Google or Facebook filing similar information with Chilling Effects. Or, it just may have never had them.

It does have a web site, but that no longer seems to work. That might also explain why there’s no similar Chilling Effects filing from Google, which might have been asked to remove listings. Those listings (around 80 in all, mostly for things that aren’t even web pages but blogging support files) lead to nothing. Over time, they’ll disappear.

Earlier this year, Twitter took flak over accusations that it censored the account of journalist Guy Adams for being critical about NBC’s Olympic coverage. Twitter had a partnership with NBC for Olympics. Accusations of censorship were overblown, in my opinion, as I wrote then:

I don’t think this was part of some heavy-handy conspiracy to silence Adams and use censorship to keep the tweetstream clean of anti-NBC comments. He was hardly the most notable person out there tweeting against NBC.

But there was no doubt that Twitter acted in improperly in suspending the account, something that Twitter later apologized for.

Whatever rap the #NBCfail fracas, as it became to be called, caused for Twitter, the company gained points when it later fought against a court order to hand over the tweets of an Occupy Wall Street protestor. The company finally caved when a judge threatened that he would fine Twitter, and to assess a proper fine, he would demand Twitter’s financial records, which have never been revealed, since the company is private.



About The Author

Danny Sullivan
Danny Sullivan was a journalist and analyst who covered the digital and search marketing space from 1996 through 2017. He was also a cofounder of Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, MarTech Today and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events. He retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017. You can learn more about him on his personal site & blog He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Related Topics

Channel: CMO ZoneLegal: CensorshipTwitter: Legal

We're listening.

Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn Group.

Get the daily newsletter digital marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

Next Event: Sept. 14-15, 2021

Available On-Demand: March 2021

Available On-Demand: October 2020

×

Attend MarTech - Click Here


Learn More About Our MarTech Events

Available On-Demand: SMX Create

May 18-19, 2021: SMX London

June 8-9, 2021: SMX Paris

June 15-16, 2021: SMX Advanced

June 21-22, 2021: SMX Advanced Europe

August 17, 2021: SMX Convert

November 9-10, 2021: SMX Next

December 14, 2021: SMX Code

Available On-Demand: SMX

Available On-Demand: SMX Report

×


Learn More About Our SMX Events

White Papers

  • Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms
  • Selecting a Customer Data Platform For Your Organization: The 2020 Gartner Market Guide
  • The Complete Guide to Web Core Vitals
  • The New Era of Automation in SEO
  • Nielsen Annual Marketing Report: Era of Adaptation
See More Whitepapers

Webinars

  • Drive Customer Engagement with the Power of Personalization
  • 7 Use Cases That Prove Why You Should Implement DAM
  • Accelerate Your SEO & Content Marketing Program with 4 Key Milestones
See More Webinars

Research Reports

  • Local Marketing Solutions for Multi-Location Businesses
  • Enterprise Digital Asset Management Platforms
  • Identity Resolution Platforms
  • Customer Data Platforms
  • B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
  • Call Analytics Platforms
See More Research

Attend SMX For Only $199

h
Receive daily marketing news & analysis.

Channels

  • MarTech
  • CMO
  • Social
  • SEM
  • SEO
  • Mobile
  • Analytics
  • Retail
  • Display

Our Events

  • MarTech
  • SMX

Resources

  • White Papers
  • Research
  • Webinars

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS
  • Youtube

© 2021 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.