Twitter and Censorship
September 5, 2009I’ve often wondered about the moral implications of removing a link to a news article; if Reuters or API or any of the hundreds of news outlets decided to pull the plug on a given story, without leaving a trace of it beyond its first ‘airing’ – are they making an editorial decision or, given the particular circumstances, are they effectively performing an act of censorship?
Not all news stories are created equal of course and we hardly need to create an online logjam with bits of what only amount to filler. Still – I ask the same question on websites with feedback forums: is it censorship when they remove a poster’s comments or is it just expeditious?
Of course this is a question that relies on some specific examples: we wouldn’t necessarily expect a website like The Guardian, say to allow spammers or trolls to post their inappropriate waste on a forum about drug trafficking. Still, there must be those commentators whose voices have been silenced – intentionally or not – by the careful snip of a link.
This question brings me to the very recent issue of Trending Topics (TT) on Twitter – themselves often objects of derision as a base for spam or other nitwittery – but for the first part and much of September 4, 2009 a new and not-so-subtle bit of gay bashing came in the form of the hashtag #uknowhowiknowurgay which immediately hit the top Trending Topic spot with commentary that ranged from the bizarre to the truly homophobic.
This trend, in turn, inspired many in the LGBT communites on Twitter and other sympathetic souls to ‘reverse the trend’ with their own hashtag #yaygay. This topic quickly took over the Trending Topics list and remained there until Twitter, for reasons not immediately known, removed them both.
Now, just because a topic is removed from the TT list does not mean the hashtag itself is gone, only that it is no longer visible on the home page, and, consequently, removed from various stats like those on Twitterholic. What is curious is that while something like #uknowhowiknowurgay tag – a thoughtless and terrible bit of tackiness that seemed to inspire the worst in some people – would be obvious for removal (if only for the amount of spam it generated), the #yaygay hashtag was not.
#Yaygay, as a Trending Topic was a revolt of sorts from the obvious and implied homophobia that has been the lot of LGBTs since time immemorial. We are living in an age where ignorance is no longer so easily excusable and where certain political organizations can rouse the ire of thousands of Americans with a single lie – even after the lie has been proven so. We are also living in a time where a simple wish for equality is being volleyed about as if it were something less than precious, something only irony knows the end of. America, the land of the free and the home of the brave can prove to be shockingly lacking in both when the temptation to taunt arises. Bullies are not just for the playground.
So the LGBT community struck back, hard and fast and with great success – only to find that success stricken from the record for reasons that Twitter never discusses. A tiny snip of a link and the controversy is ended. The result is that many think the topic no longer trends, so the topic is all but dropped amongst users. Or so the thinking goes.
A new hashtag #bringbackyaygay shows how committed members of the LGBT community are to what they believe in – it is a point of literal pride, one that Twitter is unlikely to truly understand.
Does Twitter have a moral obligation to maintain the TT as-is while topics come and go or is it more prudent for them to maintain a sense of ‘balance’ between the celebrity hype and hipsters and spammers? Or would it be better to do away with Trending Topics altogether and avoid any sort of potential controversy?
I, for one, would like to see the record stand; even if the topic is unpleasant or extreme, let it live. Each topic is replaced by another in time and while some users may be able to give a certain topic a push for a bit (Amanda Palmer’s #LOFNOTC comes to mind), no trend ever lasts. So let them stand while they are there and let them be: if anything, something like #Yaygay shows that good sense can prevail – if given a chance.
And just as a side note: Twitter was easily persuaded to not only maintain its service during the controversial Iranian elections, but never touched the #iranelection hashtag during that time and it remained on the TT for weeks – so, obviously, there are some topics that Twitter finds acceptable to not tinker with. Revolutions should be taken seriously, after all, even if they fail.
This is fascinating. Twitter needs to be careful, because one of the things that has turned it from nerd’s playground to popular bellweather is its ability to be hijacked by its users. When people write the history of twitter, the thing they’ll spend most time on is the Iran elections, when the twitterverse was first hailed as riding the trough before the wave of the zeitgeist even came into sight, and holding the world to account beore being accused of benig “metoo”. Then came the great firewall of China incident, and the outrage it caused, made public by twitter.
To use a biblical analogy, twitter needs to be careful it doesn’t endup as a Samsom who cuts his own hair.
Very important comment! I think you hit it spot on – Twitter has many issues (technical and otherwise) that it needs to iron out but none more so than its relationship to its users. It would be naive to think that something as large and unwieldy as Twitter can be has an easy time of making good decisions, but there are models to follow and they need to start taking a closer look.
What needs to be understood is that Twitter itself holds power, and they know that. I don’t specifically mean “Twitter” as the program, but the company who owns it. Like Facebook, they know that people love it. People are addicted to Twitter, and like any good drug lord, they know they can be a little unfair and few will complain. When you have a monopoly on something (which Twitter basically does) then you can play with the people who use it. If they suddenly said, “No one may use the word egg” then people might be upset, but they love their Tweets, so they’ll adapt and keep on.
Twitter has such a massive user-base that they can screw up royally and still have countless loyal patrons. Thus, they can snip links and censor people, and people won’t leave.
On another note, I think when hashtags like this start to cause internal drama and arguments, snipping out both of them is a fair way of cutting out the conflict. Now, if only one hash had been removed, then it’d be unfair!
First – thank you for taking the time to comment!
I appreciate your point of view on this and I do agree that Twitter as a company is most certainly benefiting from the basic unfairness of its own setup: users become addicted to using it so they won’t complain when something unfair comes up. That said, it is the recognition of this fact that will ultimate be its undoing; as the saying goes, you can’t fool all the people all of the time. At some point this will spillover and have real consequences for Twitter unless it does something to address it – and quickly.
As I wrote in my post, I wanted the record – for both hashtags – to stand. Even the unpopular or unpleasant elements have a place and without them we never learn anything. Perhaps Twitter isn’t the best forum for educating others, but for me this was an issue of censorship without discussion. By removing both tags from TT, they help to create a mindset that if the topic is not trending, it isn’t important or being talked about, so it won’t be. And stats on Trendistic show this to be the case. The conversations continue, but it is frightening to me that a company like Twitter can make such a decision and know full well the effect it will have. If Twitter doesn’t want controversy clogging its Trending Topics then remove Trending Topics – why create a problem for yourself?
The question is – why do they keep it? Simple: its popular and it is and can be a way to influence others to read or take comment on what you want them to. It is a way of directing thoughts. Newspapers do it, television does it, and Twitter is no different. I think Dan’s previous comment about what makes Twitter popular amongst its users is relevant: so long as the users have some control over the content, there can be a certain amount of (lopsided) fairness – WE control the trending topics, not Twitter – but if Twitter takes final control then what do we have? We have censorship. We have the beginning of something unpleasant and while I agree with you that it is very possible Twitter acted (this time) to be ‘fair’ their power needs to be kept in check and they need to be reminded of it.
Thank you again for your thoughtful comment – all thoughts are relevant and keep everyone on their toes!
I saw the first tag when it got to #1 but I didn’t know about the backlash and subsequent removal. An interesting issue to consider.
What we’ve discovered when similar things have happened in discussion groups/message boards in the past is that Twitter is someone else’s playground that we are allowed to play in. They own it & set the rules, it’s a private venture, not a democracy.
Hello and thank you for taking the time to comment – I think its interesting that you mention Twitter as a private company whose ‘playground we are allowed to play in.’ I would think if they want players on their field they should treat them with the utmost respect – lest they lose players!
I’m sure it is only a matter of time before Twitter has competition that betters their product and everyone starts switching up.
In my opinion, neither topic should have been removed. The trending topics should reflect what people are talking about, no matter how vile the subjects may be. Otherwise, why should we trust them?
Hello there and thank you for stopping in – I couldn’t agree with you more. I wish Twitter would be more upfront with users about their behavior. There is something a little unnerving about it.
[...] and not because our enthusiasm and dedication had waned. The prevailing belief is that #yaygay was yanked. It’s possible that there was never a victory in the first [...]
[...] 3. Could you communicate once in a while? You are remarkably stand-offish with your Tweeters – especially about things like Spam and Censorship on the Trending Topics (which I wrote about recently). [...]