The drama over Twitter's censorship policy has been interesting. Activists were initially angered, but then all of the usual tech policy analysts came to Twitter's defense. I wonder if the EFF was not consulted prior to the announcement.

I found this all a bit annoying because of my personal experience with Twitter, wherein they arbitrarily disabled my account and censored all of my tweets for two weeks without ever providing an explanation. This policy means they are going to be super careful if a government asks them to censor a post but their own AUP enforcement is going to be as draconian as ever.

In any event, this post on BoingBoing accuses all the defenders of spin:

The way they put it, you'd think it might have happened once or twice. But until now, Twitter has never taken account of other countries' limits and never removed tweets globally because of them...

"Previously, when a government demanded that Twitter remove a tweet or block a user, access to that content would be blocked from the entire world," wrote Mashable's Lauren Indvik, about government demands that were in fact ignored.

"The new system would allow countries and private businesses to submit complaints [over] Germany’s strict laws against pro-Nazi speech or China’s laws against criticizing the government. ... Previously, when Twitter received such a request, its only option was to take down the tweet on a global level, making it inaccessible from any country," wrote the AP, about requests that were never acted upon.

"Previously, the tweet would disappear for everyone," reported CNN, about tweets that never disappeared previously.

"Until now, when Twitter has taken down content, it has had to do so globally," wrote the EFF's Eva Galperin, referring to political censorship, not mere DMCA takedowns: "For example, if Twitter had received a court order to take down a tweet that is defamatory to Ataturk--which is illegal under Turkish law--the only way it could comply would be to take it down for everybody ... the overall effect is less censorship rather than more censorship, since they used to take things down for all users."

Twitter confirmed to me that it has never censored a tweet at the request of a government.

Twitter's early-bird special on censorship - Boing Boing

New reports are saying that customs was tipped off about the two people, and their detention was not a result of data mining.

Its also possible that the eject decision was not a result of the content of the Tweets.

Schneier on Security: British Tourists Arrested in the U.S. for Tweeting

Me:

I think the practical issues with this go way beyond a simple matter of whether or not it was reasonable under the circumstances to deny this couple access to the USA.

CBP claims broad authority to seize and perform detailed searches of travelers personal laptops, cellphones, and other electronic devices, at random, with absolutely no requirement that the circumstances reach a certain minimum standard of suspicion. CBP could seize EVERY laptop that enters the country under their interpretation of US policy and Constitutional law.

If all that it takes is a single sarcastic comment on Twitter for Americans to find their laptops seized and all of their private email, writings, and other documents subjected to detailed inspection by the Government the next time they go on an overseas vacation, there is absolutely no question that this will have a significant negative impact on the freedom of expression in this country. No question.

(In this case there is nothing that indicates that laptops were seized or searched. However, CBP argues that there are no meaningful limits to their power to search the content of electronic devices at the boarder. Therefore, if Twitter comments are leading to CBP searches, it is inevitable that some of those searches will include electronics.)

CBP’s powers have expanded radically in the past decade as a consequence of technological accidents, deferential court rulings in the wake of 9/11, and supportive federal policy. When you start seeing people self censor for fear of misinterpretation by CBP, you are now firmly in territory where our basic freedoms as Americans are in jeopardy. CBP’s job is obviously important and necessary, but just like other kinds of law enforcement, it can be done with reasonable limits that are also necessary to protect our country’s freedoms and identity.

Something must be done now to reign this in and set reasonable, objective limits that protect people’s basic constitutional rights.

The Volokh Conspiracy » Two Tourists Not Allowed in Country, Locked Up Overnight, Based on “Destroy America” Joke

Before his trip, Leigh Van Bryan wrote that he was going to "destroy America".

He insisted he was referring to simply having a good time - but was sent home.

Trade association Abta told the BBC that the case highlighted that holidaymakers should never do anything to raise "concern or suspicion in any way".

The US Department for Homeland Security picked up Mr Bryan's messages ahead of his holiday in Los Angeles.

The 26-year-old bar manager wrote a message to a friend on the micro-blogging service, saying: "Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America."

The Irish national told the Sun newspaper that he and his friend Emily Bunting were apprehended on arrival at Los Angeles International Airport before being sent home.

"The Homeland Security agents were treating me like some kind of terrorist," Mr Bryan said.

"I kept saying they had got the wrong meaning from my tweet."

This has gone too far.

BBC News - Caution on Twitter urged as tourists barred from US

BLODGET: And what about price-to-income and price-to-rent?

SHILLER: Those things have come down a lot. I don't know exactly where the middle is but it's not like we're overpriced anymore. Now the question is whether we'll overshoot...

SHILLER: I think historically, if you look at it, interest rates don't seem to matter very much in determining home prices. In terms of forecasting, which you're asking me to do, to forecast the change, the big thing in forecasting home prices is momentum. It's different than the stock market. So if it's been going up it will continue going up and if it's been going down it will continue going down. By that model, which is the most successful forecasting model for home prices, prices will keep going down.

ROBERT SHILLER: A Housing Bottom? What Are They Thinking?

In an interview, Norman S. Matloff, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who has studied hiring patterns in the technology sector, said workers over 35 regularly face discrimination by technology companies.

Kris Stadelman, director of NOVA, the local work force investment board, which released a survey of human resource directors at 251 Bay Area technology companies last July, said that in her experience, candidates began to be screened out once they reached 40.

“Especially in social media, cloud computing and mobile apps, if you’re over 40 you’re perceived to be over the hill,” Ms. Stadelman said.

Bay Area Technology Professionals Can’t Get Hired as Industry Moves On - NYTimes.com

Freddie’s charter calls for the company to make home loans more accessible. Its chief executive, Charles Haldeman Jr., recently told Congress that his company is “helping financially strapped families reduce their mortgage costs through refinancing their mortgages.”

But the trades, uncovered for the first time in an investigation by ProPublica and NPR, give Freddie a powerful incentive to do the opposite, highlighting a conflict of interest at the heart of the company.null

Freddie Mac Bets Against American Homeowners - ProPublica

The company says its millions of users stored their own data, including family photos and personal documents.

Megaupload hires outside companies to store the data, for a fee. But Megaupload attorney Ira Rothken said Sunday that the government has frozen its money.

A letter filed in the case Friday by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said storage companies Carpathia Hosting Inc. and Cogent Communications Group Inc. may begin deleting data Thursday.

Feds: Megaupload user data could be gone Thursday - CBS News

I’ve since looked at the policy in more detail and my conclusion is that this isn’t a mediocre but acceptable policy; rather, this is an excellent policy which will be helpful to free-speech advocates.

Why Twitter’s new policy is helpful for free-speech advocates | technosociology

Lawmakers for the left-wing Palikot's Movement wore [Anonymous] masks in parliament to show their dissatisfaction [with ACTA].

Poland signs copyright treaty that drew protests - Yahoo!