{"id":824,"date":"2010-05-31T12:14:54","date_gmt":"2010-05-31T09:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/neosmart.net\/blog\/2010\/twitter-actively-censoring-flotilla\/"},"modified":"2013-08-26T18:19:06","modified_gmt":"2013-08-26T23:19:06","slug":"twitter-actively-censoring-flotilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neosmart.net\/blog\/twitter-actively-censoring-flotilla\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Twitter Actively Censoring Human Rights Activists in Palestine?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quick background: earlier today, IDF soldiers stormed a relief flotilla<\/a>\/convey headed towards Gaza carrying food, medical supplies, and other relief materials in an attempt to bypass a blockade of the Gaza territories. The raid on the flotilla resulted in the death of 16 aid workers.<\/em><\/p>\n

A post on twitpic<\/a> earlier today asks<\/p>\n

\n

Can\u2019t get why #flotilla is not trending; censored, why?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

and articles on the web search for explanations, since it\u2019s very clear<\/a> that flotilla is indeed a trending topic, going by the trendistic results (see below).<\/p>\n

Some are saying that twitter needs to manually approve trending topics to prevent abuse, etc. but there\u2019s something that doesn\u2019t add up: why is twitter actively blocking searches for #flotilla?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can check it out for yourself: for the past hour or so, searching twitter for #flotilla<\/a> turns up the dreaded \u201cSomething is technically wrong\u201d page but searching for any other #topic works!<\/strong><\/p>\n

As they say, the proof is in the pudding (images after the jump):<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Update #1<\/b> \u0130srail is now appearing on the Trending Topics list, but the search for it also returns a technical error. Reports indicate that these searches are being blocked from the USA (LA-region), Middle East, Sweden, UK, and more. However, search is working from Germany and Denmark. Check back for more updates.<\/p>\n

Update #2<\/b> According to twitter PR, it was a technical issue and they’ll "post more info" shortly. No sign of that follow-up info yet though.. makes it hard to believe.<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

Searches for #flotilla:<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n


<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

Searches for #somethingelse:<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n


<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

Flotilla as a trending topic on trendistic:<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quick background: earlier today, IDF soldiers stormed a relief flotilla\/convey headed towards Gaza carrying food, medical supplies, and other relief materials in an attempt to bypass a blockade of the Gaza territories. The raid on the flotilla resulted in the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":505,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[730,729,285,517,287,319],"class_list":["post-824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-software","tag-censorship","tag-human-rights","tag-israel","tag-media","tag-palestine","tag-twitter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t