Twitter has announced that it now has the ability to censor tweets in individual countries, signalling a willingness to co-operate with governments as it expands into new territories.

Until now, the micro-messaging service has only been able to make blanket deletions, mainly to block links to child pornography.

The new development is likely to arouse concern among champions of free speech. Twitter however stressed the move would allow tweets to reach as many users as possible, in the countries where messages are allowed to remain, as it attempts to operate amid the nuances of international laws.

“One of our core values as a company is to defend and respect each user’s voice,” Twitter wrote in a blogpost, sentiments not dissimilar to the global stance taken by Google. “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.”

(Source: MediaGuardian)

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