Brazil may be the first country to censor Twitter

Twitter announced that they would be working with countries to follow country specific censorship. The way they would execute the censoring would be by making the 'offending' tweet invisible only within the country it is offensive to. The user would also be notified that his or her tweet is invisible and an explanation would be provided. It seems Brazil may be the first country to take Twitter on this offer. According to CNN, Brazil is suing Twitter for drivers who tweet about roadblocks. They're also suing for users who blew the covers of police in hiding via a post on Twitter. The lawsuit is taking place in Goais in a federal court, and the government is demanding fines of 500,000 reais (Rs. 14,357,187 aprox) for each day that Twitter or traffic whistleblowers did not comply to Brazil's policies.

In lawsuit to censor

The reason Brazil is engaged in this lawsuit and wants to start Twitter censorship is that users tweeting about roadblocks and police hiding spots is a threat to safety. The government says that the Twitter users who post such content are directly breaking the law and are directly endangering life, safety and property. The attorneys say that in addition to reducing the number of traffic accidents, the checkpoints that are set up by the transit police, "serve to combat other serious crimes, such as car theft, the transport of illegal weapons and drug trafficking." The attorney general's office also released facts about Brazil's traffic accident frequency. The statement says that 55,000 people die every year on Brazil's highways and accidents cost the country 24.6 billion reais, which include damage, health care and loss in productivity.

Eva Galperin, an activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that fights for free speech online said, "It looks like Twitter built it, and they came." She says that as far as she knows, Brazil is the first country to take Twitter up on its censorship offer.