An Inside Look At The Accounts Twitter Has Censored In Countries Around The World
An Inside Look At The Accounts Twitter Has Censored In
Countries Around The World
BuzzFeed News has identified more than 1,700 Twitter
accounts that have been blocked in at least one country. The list provides an
unprecedented glimpse into Twitter's collaboration with national groups and
governments — democratic and authoritarian alike — and provides new details
about a surge in blocked accounts in Germany, France, and Turkey.
By Craig Silverman & Jeremy Singer-Vine Posted on
January 24, 2018, at 6:01 a.m.
The second half of 2017 saw an unprecedented number of
Twitter accounts banned in Germany and France thanks to an increase in removal
requests from governments, NGOs, and other entities, according to data gathered
by BuzzFeed News. The data also reveal that demands from the Turkish government
have led Twitter to block hundreds of users for what appear to be political
reasons.
Twitter refers to the process of blocking accounts (and
individual tweets) in specific countries as “withholding.” All content from
withheld accounts in Germany, for example, cannot be seen by Twitter users in
Germany, but remain accessible to all other users.
Twitter regularly publishes a transparency report in
which it shares the number of requests received from different governments, as
well as from “trusted flaggers/reporters” such as NGOs and other social or
industry groups in Europe that help report violations of the EU’s Code of
Conduct against online hate speech. The company’s policy for withholding
accounts and tweets says it will take action in response to court orders, or
requests from government officials and law enforcement that meet the company’s
criteria.
Twitter’s transparency report lists statistics about
accounts and tweets that were withheld — but the company has never published a
list of the specific accounts it has muzzled, and it almost never comments on
individual decisions.
In order to gain insight into the withholding program,
BuzzFeed News built a data set of more than 1,700 Twitter accounts observed to
have been withheld in at least one of seven countries — Germany, France,
Turkey, Russia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and India — between October 2017
and early January 2018. Because Twitter publishes no official list of such
accounts, and because many historically withheld accounts have since
disappeared from the platform, the data set is incomplete. It does, however,
appear to be the the most detailed and globally diverse list of withheld
accounts ever published. (For an explanation of how the data was collected, see
the “How we got the data” section at the end of this article.)
BuzzFeed News’ data and analysis offer an unprecedented
glimpse into Twitter's collaboration with national groups and governments —
democratic and authoritarian alike — and provide a stark reminder of Twitter's
ability to shape political conversations, and of governments' attempts to
influence that process. It also illustrates that the Twitter experience for
users is not the same from one country to the next, and that a range of
accounts ranging from malicious to harmless be blocked, especially when it
comes to reading opposition voices in Turkey or viewing Nazi and white
supremacist content in France and Germany.
Accounts @Duffys44 and @SteveRo56399233 are withheld in
Germany and France, and @Adolf_Hess1488 is withheld in Germany. They can be
seen by Twitter users in all other countries.
In the second half of 2017, German authorities and
trusted flaggers significantly increased the number of requests submitted to
Twitter to block specific accounts and content, and that the company complied
with hundreds of these requests.
At the end of June last year, just 35 Twitter accounts
had been withheld in Germany, according to the company’s transparency report.
But by mid-October, just a few weeks after the German
federal election, BuzzFeed News was able to identify more than 600 accounts
withheld in the country, a massive increase.
Both Twitter and the German agency responsible for making
requests to remove content declined to comment on the spike in blocked accounts
around the election. However, a source familiar with Twitter’s policies told
BuzzFeed News that globally the company typically sees a spike in requests for
account and content removals around elections, in the wake of terrorist
attacks, or during periods of civil unrest. Twitter has operated its
withholding program since 2012. (The company withheld its first account in
November that year, when it blocked a neo-Nazi group from being seen in
Germany.)
Like Germany, France went on a withholding spree in the
fall of 2017. Through the end of June, Twitter had withheld fewer than 25
accounts in France. But by mid-October, BuzzFeed News had identified more than
200 accounts withheld there.
BuzzFeed News identified 119 accounts that have been
withheld in both Germany and France together, by far the most common
combination of any two countries in the data set. An examination of the
usernames, bios, and some of the content posted by the accounts withheld in
those two countries found that a significant portion of them espouse Nazi and
white nationalist ideology and related imagery. France and Germany each have
relatively strict hate speech laws, but accounts can also be blocked in those
countries for running afoul of legislation unrelated to hate speech.
Based on data collected by BuzzFeed News between October
2017 and early January 2018.
More than 100 withheld accounts in the data set overall
have included swastikas, “Nazi,” or “Hitler” in their username or bio.
(Additional accounts have used allusions to Nazism, such as “14/88” and “ÏŸÏŸ.”)
Rather than ban these accounts outright, Twitter chose to
withhold them when authorities made requests to do so. This aligns with the
frequent criticism that Twitter has allowed these groups to flourish on its
platform, and also fits with the company’s stance first articulated in 2011
that “we keep the information flowing irrespective of any view we may have
about the content,” unless laws in specific countries prevent the company from
doing so.
"Twitter together with Facebook have become the
long-arm of the Turkish law enforcement machinery."
Another country of note in the data is Turkey, which
stands out for its use of the content withholding policy as a means to silence
opposition voices on the platform. Twitter’s own transparency reports also show
that between 2014 and mid-2017, Turkey made more requests to remove accounts or
content than any other country — by far.
"Twitter together with Facebook have become the
long-arm of the Turkish law enforcement machinery," Yaman Akdeniz, a
cyber-rights activist and law professor at Istanbul Bilgi University, told
BuzzFeed News.
Twitter has not yet released transparency data for the
second half of 2017. But the most recent data indicates that Turkish
authorities inundated the company with more than 2,700 removal requests in the first
six months of 2017 alone. (Twitter withheld 204 accounts and 497 tweets in
response to those requests.) Turkey has in total made at least 11,887 requests
to withhold accounts or specific tweets since the creation of the program,
according to Twitter’s transparency reports.
A review of more than 700 accounts withheld in Turkey
found that more than 600 belonged to those connected with militant pro-Kurdish
movements as well as accounts affiliated with exiled Islamic Turkish preacher
Fethullah Gülen. The Turkish government blames Gülen and his followers for
having a role in the failed 2016 coup, and also declared his movement a
terrorist organization.
Another notable group of accounts on the withheld list
are journalists. The third-most-popular withheld account identified by BuzzFeed
News belongs to Ekrem Dumanlı, who was editor-in-chief of the Gülen-linked
newspaper Zaman until Turkish authorities commandeered the publication in 2015.
That year, Akdeniz coauthored a letter to Twitter that
called for it to stop blocking accounts and tweets in Turkey. He is
particularly critical of withholding entire accounts, as opposed to specific
tweets. “Once an account is withheld everything that is written through or
shared through that account, past, present and future is withheld. So, in my
view that amounts to censorship,” he said.
Twitter declined to answer questions sent by BuzzFeed
News, and did not comment on the data set and related findings. It also
declined to explain why it does not list specific accounts withheld in
different countries. The Turkish government agency that makes requests to
remove accounts and content did not respond to multiple emails or phone calls,
or a request via Twitter. The German body responsible for account removal
requests also did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls.
A Twitter spokesperson pointed to Twitter’s transparency
report and cited its “country withheld content” policy available online.
“Many countries, including the United States, have laws
that may apply to Tweets and/or Twitter account content. In our continuing
effort to make our services available to users everywhere, if we receive a
valid and properly scoped request from an authorized entity, it may be
necessary to reactively withhold access to certain content in a particular
country from time to time,” the policy states.
The country with the most withheld accounts in the data
set is Germany with 758, followed by with Turkey with 721, and France with 261.
BuzzFeed News also identified 78 accounts withheld in Russia, 11 in India, 4 in
the United Kingdom, and 2 in Brazil.
The most popular “withheld” account identified in the
data belongs to Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who has more than 3.5 million followers. He
is withheld from users in India.
Rahim’s account was blocked in early September at the
request of police in the state of Haryana, according to the Times of India,
shortly after the spiritual leader was convicted on two counts of rape. Apart
from Rahim, at least five of the 10 other withheld accounts in India identified
by BuzzFeed News make a reference to the disputed region of Kashmir in their
Twitter bios.
The second-most-popular account in the data, with more
than 1.4 million followers, is Twitter’s very own @PeriscopeCo, which has been
withheld in Turkey since March. At the time it was reportedly blocked due to a
copyright/trademark complaint filed against the service by a Turkish ad agency
that was already operating under the name Periscope.
The most popular account that’s withheld in multiple
countries belongs to “Amy Mek,” who is withheld in both Germany and France. The
account’s bio identifies her as a psychotherapist from the US, and her timeline
is full of anti-Muslim videos, images, and messages. She has also shared fake
stories such as the fabricated claim that the leader of ISIS told people to
vote for Hillary Clinton. Often the account shares videos and gives false or
misleading descriptions of them. The frequency of its posts and other details
have caused some to accuse it of using a fake name and identity, and of being a
Russian sock puppet. The Mek account was once quoted in the New York Times.
After CNN’s Jake Tapper shared a link to a story that
raised questions about its authenticity, the Mek account responded by offering
to appear on his program. Tapper did not respond to the offer.
Twitter
The Mek account did not respond to direct messages from
BuzzFeed News asking to speak for this article. The account, however, has
tweeted many times about being withheld:
When Twitter decides to withhold an account, its owner is
notified by email about why and where it’s being restricted.
Accounts that are withheld often tweet about their status
when they are first notified. BuzzFeed News also identified that the word
“withheld” has appeared in at least 105 bios of accounts that have been blocked
in specific countries. The majority of the accounts use this text (with their
specific country) in their bio: “This account has been withheld in: [country
name].” That is the same language that Twitter uses to inform users that an
account has been withheld in their country, suggesting many users copy and
paste it into their bio.
Some accounts wear their status as a badge of honor,
while others cite it to protest what they see as unfair censorship.
BuzzFeed News
According to the data Twitter has published in its
transparency reports, as well as examples gathered from other sources, the
company rejects many official requests to block accounts or tweets. For
example, late last year the Russian government contacted the platform to demand
that it remove the account of OpenRussia, the leading opposition party whose
leader was recently blocked from running in the upcoming Russian presidential
elections. Twitter was provided with a court order and informed OpenRussia of
the demand. But Twitter took no action against the account. (OpenRussia has
since transitioned to a new account, @MBKhMedia.)
Twitter’s withholding program for the most part operates
under the radar. But it recently attracted a measure of attention when some US
users claimed they saw fewer Nazi and white nationalist accounts in their
mentions after changing their Twitter settings to say they are based in
Germany. Author and Los Angeles Times columnist Virginia Heffernan went viral
with a tweet telling people they could disappear Nazi accounts by changing
their settings.
BuzzFeed News also found that it’s apparently possible
for an account that has been withheld to have its ban lifted. As of early
January, nine accounts that BuzzFeed News had previously identified as being
withheld were found to have been “un-withheld” — made visible to all users
regardless of location. It’s unclear why these accounts were unblocked, and
Twitter would not comment on specific accounts. BuzzFeed News reached out the
owners of several active accounts on Twitter but did not hear back.
Additionally, 193 accounts that were identified as being
withheld in an earlier scan were no longer accessible as of early January — in
some cases because they had been fully suspended, and in others because they
had deleted their accounts. Another 84 accounts were, according to Twitter’s
website and data, “temporarily unavailable because [the account] violates the
Twitter Media Policy.”
On Dec. 18, Twitter began implementing what it said were
stricter rules against accounts that spread hate. The new policy means the
company is now fully suspending certain types of accounts that it may
previously have only withheld. Soon after the new rules took effect, for
example, Twitter banned @theAmericanNazi, @NaziParty45, and @FuckthoseJews from
its platform.
Blocking the opposition in Turkey
In Turkey, the president, the courts, and the national
telecommunications authority together appear to have created a state apparatus
for mass blocking.
When protests against the Turkish government erupted in
2013 in Gezi Park and elsewhere, Twitter emerged as a powerful tool in helping
organize and draw attention to the action. A year later, the service found
itself in the government's crosshairs when users began tweeting documents and
accusations alleging corruption against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
others in his government. Erdogan responded on the campaign trail by saying he
would "eradicate” the service.
"We now have a court order," Erdogan said.
"We'll eradicate Twitter. I don't care what the international community
says. Everyone will witness the power of the Turkish Republic."
Not long after, and less than two weeks before the
country’s 2014 elections, twitter.com was reported to be down in Turkey.
Twitter was also blocked in 2016 in the wake of the coup attempt against
Erdogan, and after ISIS posted a gruesome online video of it killing what the
terrorist group claimed were Turkish soldiers.
Prior to 2014, Turkey had made only 16 requests to
Twitter that it block accounts or specific tweets, and all of those requests
were rejected by the company. Then, in the first six months of 2014, the
government made 186 removal requests, which resulted in Twitter withholding 17
accounts. Since then, the number of requests and withheld accounts (and tweets)
have continued to grow.
Source: Twitter Transparency Reports
BuzzFeed News worked with two Turkish journalists, Engin
Onder and Can Puruzsuz of 140journos, who have reported on Twitter withholdings
in that country to analyze the list of more than 700 accounts in the data set.
They found that the biggest portion of the withheld accounts in that country
are linked to two groups: pro-Kurdish movements such as the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) militant group, and those connected to Fethullah Gülen. Both have
been officially declared terrorist groups by the current Turkish government.
(The PKK is also listed as a terrorist group by the EU and US.)
Of the 719 accounts reviewed by the journalists in
December, 386 were determined to be pro-Kurdish or PKK, and 242 were
pro-Gülenist accounts. Another 58 were identified as being aligned with leftist
or left-leaning organizations. The Gülenist accounts have by far the most total
followers: nearly 10 million. (The next-most-followed group, the pro-Kurdish
accounts, by comparison had only 2.5 million total followers.) The Turkish
journalists said they did not identify a single pro-government account that had
been withheld in the country.
Akdeniz, the Turkish law professor, also reviewed the
list and agreed with the journalists’ conclusions. He said he believes it
accurately represents the types of accounts being withheld in the country.
For example, the Twitter account of NBA player Enes
Kanter is withheld in his home country. Kanter is a follower of Gülen and has
more than 535,000 Twitter followers. As a result of his alignment with Gülen,
and allegedly because of his use of an encrypted messaging app, Kanter became
the subject of an arrest warrant in Turkey. That warrant may have been the legal
document used by the government to have his tweets withheld in the country.
(Kanter also had his passport canceled last year by the Turkish Embassy.)
Other withheld Gülenist accounts include journalists,
writers, and academics linked to the movement, as well news-focused accounts
created to disseminate articles about the movement to followers. The withheld
Kurdish accounts include journalists, activists promoting Kurdish causes, and
news accounts, according to the analysis performed for BuzzFeed News.
Activist groups inside and outside of Turkey have
criticized Twitter for the number and nature of accounts being withheld. Turkey
is a prime example of "how an authoritarian government suppresses domestic
criticism by violating international laws and uses global companies for
it," Efe Kerem Sozeri, a researcher who has been documenting Turkey's
censorship of Twitter, previously told BuzzFeed News.
A 2017 report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of
Journalism found that use of Twitter as a news source in Turkey is on the
decline, and cited the government’s heavy hand as a factor.
“Social media companies like Twitter should not be aiding
governments that exert political pressure on their citizens.”
Twitter’s transparency reports provide examples of the company
fighting the government in court over demands to withholds accounts or tweets.
The reports also detail times when the company unwithheld accounts after the
government failed to follow up with the necessary court orders to back up their
initial demand for removal.
In 2014, for example, the company reported that it
“un-withheld three accounts and 196 Tweets following the acceptance of several
objections that Twitter filed in the Turkish courts in response to various
removal demands.”
And in 2016 the Twitter said it unwithheld an account
belonging to “a high profile political party in Turkey” after the government
failed to follow up with the necessary court order.
The main government agency responsible for blocking
internet content and services in Turkey is the Information and Communication
Technologies Authority (ICTA), a telecommunications regulator. Once a
government ministry makes a demand, ICTA issues it to Twitter. Then the
government has 24 hours to secure a related court order, according to Akdeniz.
The failure to secure the necessary court order is often cited by Twitter as
the reason for unwithholding an account or tweet(s).
ICTA did not respond to interview requests sent by email
and on Twitter, and calls to its headquarters went unanswered.
Akdeniz said the increase in withheld accounts and
content in Turkey is part of a larger tilt toward censorship in the country. He
added, “Social media companies like Twitter should not be aiding governments
that exert political pressure on their citizens.”
How we got the data
Starting in early October, BuzzFeed News tried to
identify as many “withheld” accounts as it could. To do so, we used Twitter’s
search interface, its API (its “application programming interface” provided to
developers), the Lumen database of removal requests, and other resources.
So far, we’ve found 1,714 users who, based on Twitter’s
own API, have been withheld in at least one country. While this represents the
most comprehensive list of withheld accounts ever made public, it’s unclear how
representative it is of the entire universe of withheld accounts. Twitter at
times also withholds specific tweets from certain countries; this data set does
not address those.
To start, we seeded a database with users listed in
Twitter users’ personal blocklists, such as this one published by @NaziBlocker.
Many of the users on these lists are not withheld in any country, however. To
broaden our database, we also added usernames mentioned in Lumen's database of
legal complaints and removal requests, accounts we found through manual
research, and users listed on “Cemetery of Free Speech,” a website (no longer
accessible at the time of publication) that tracks accounts and tweets withheld
in Germany.
Then, we fed these lists of users through Twitter’s API,
which provides data about each account — including, crucially, an attribute
named “withheld_in_countries.” For accounts that were, indeed, withheld in at
least one country, we then used Twitter’s API to find all of the users that the
account followed, and then checked whether any of those accounts had been
withheld.
We continued this process until we could find no more
withheld users. In all, we examined nearly 800,000 accounts.
Our database of withheld users is, unavoidably,
incomplete. Some withheld accounts, for instance, may have been deactivated (by
Twitter or the user) or unwithheld before we could identify them. And our
approach to finding accounts likely has its own blind spots.
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