Controversy brews over Twitter harassment policy
A controversy surrounding Twitter’s terms of service erupted after popular blogger Ariel Waldman wrote that she had been harassed via Twitter for over a year and the company did nothing to stop it. According to Ars Technica, Twitter did remove some offending posts from the public timeline last year after Waldman complained. However, more recent tweets and the offending user’s account were not removed.
In a post to the official company blog co-founder Biz Stone responded saying that “Twitter is a communication utility, not a mediator of content.” Waldman contends that Twitter’s terms of service, which were borrowed from Flickr, place an obligation on the company to police what she feels is an online community. Twitter announce it is reviewing its terms.
On the legal front, internet lawyer John Dozier Jr. told Wired that “Twitter may have risked its immunity under the Communications Decency Act the moment it ‘edited’ or altered content on the site.” However, Denise Howell, also an internet lawyer, blogger, and podcaster, writes that Twitter has done nothing to forfeit its protection under the law.
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