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Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo, stern-faced and blank-eyed, explained his company's new censorship capabilities defensively on Monday night. When asked Twitter's stance on free speech, its plans for international expansion and the criticism the company's faced for bending to governmental pressure, Costolo implored the audience -- and ostensibly Twitter's users -- not to speculate about whether or not the new technology that can withhold tweets in certain parts of the world means that tweets would continue to flow freely around the world. It has nothing to do with wanting to move into China or anything like that, Costolo explained. It's just what some companies have to do to grow.

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"We could go into hypothetical after hypothetical after hypothetical," Costolo said. "Our perspective is that the most honest transparent and forward-looking way for a company to deal with the myriad of complex issues around the world that you experience when you have to operate in these countries." Based on the company's recent history dealing with government orders, though, the hypothetical is exactly what worries free speech advocates.

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The Good

Twitter's new censorship wall is full of holes. As we explained last week, the new tweet-blocking technology doesn't delete tweets; it simply withholds them in parts of the world where relevant laws would make it illegal to publish tweets. If a tweet is blocked, simply change your country to one with less stringent privacy laws. If you think that this be Twitter's might be a way of getting to the Great Firewall of China, think again. Twitter does not operate in China and based on Costolo's comments on Monday, they don't plan on operating there any time soon: "I don't think the current environment in China is one in which we thing we could operate." Costolo added."

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Twitter also says they did not build this technology with the expressed intention of withholding content, but rather to provide a buffer between governments and users. "We do not proactively monitor or filter any content," Twitter representative Matt Graves told The Atlantic Wire last week. "This is a reactive policy: that is, we will withhold specific content only when required to so in response to a valid and applicable legal request." 

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The Bad

Cooperating with governments inevitably means that people could go to jail for tweeting. One such (somewhat problematic) example of this is the United Kingdom, where it's illegal for the media to name people with court-ordered super-injunctions. A super-injunction is a particular kind of gag order issued by a judge often in order to protect public figures from coverage of potentially sensitive issues. When a tweeter identified professional footballer Ryan Giggs as having obtained a super-injunction to hide his affair with a reality TV star, the courts attempted to force Twitter into revealing the identities of the users who broke the super-injunction and punish them for speaking up. This did not go over well on Twitter, but eventually the company caved in to government pressure by releasing the names. "Are you really going to say that someone who has a true claim for protection perfectly well made has to be at the mercy of modern technology?" Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wale asked The Guardian. "I'm not giving up on the possibility that people who peddle lies about others through using technology may one day be brought under control…"

"The mercy of modern technology" is a really funny phrase. It will take a while to sort out the legal details, but James Webley, who sent the original tweet, leaking news of Giggs' affair could face jail time. While this doesn't sound like a good thing for anybody, the truth is that Twitter's new tweet withholding policy could prevent cases like this -- ones that scare old British judges wearing powdered wigs -- would be brought under control before they bubbled up to the high courts. That's a very speculative hypothetical, however. But since we're already speculating, imagine what would've happened in Iran or Egypt had Twitter decided to cave in to government pressure.

The Fuzzy

As Costolo said, it's very unclear what will happen in the future that will force Twitter's hand and make them censor tweets. For now, nothing has really changed. "There’s been no change in our stance or attitude or policy with respect to content on Twitter," said Costolo on Monday. "When we receive one [a cease and desist order] we want to leave the content up for as many people as possible while adhering to the local law." Until then, keep tweeting.

The rest is here:
The Good, the Bad, and the Fuzzy of Twitter's New Censorship Rules

Thailand, which regularly cracks down on Internet content deemed critical of its revered monarchy, on Monday welcomed social media giant Twitter's controversial new censorship policy.

The San Francisco-based networking website announced last week that it can now block tweets on a country-by-country basis if legally required, enraging many users, but Thailand said it supported the move.

"It's a good idea that Twitter has this policy to take care and prevent its users from violating the law, because freedom of expression must not violate other people's rights or the laws in each country," Thai Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap told AFP.

"The ICT ministry will continue to ensure no person or group uses social networks to violate the law. I agree with Twitter's new policy but we will not be involved with Twitter's censorship."

The Thai government has removed tens of thousands of web pages in recent years because they were considered insulting to the royal family, an extremely sensitive subject in the politically-divided country.

A boom in online discussion on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter is fuelling political debate and challenging Thailand's long-standing taboo against openly discussing the royal family.

In November Thailand asked Facebook to delete more than 10,000 pages of content containing images or text deemed offensive to the monarchy.

Anyone convicted in Thailand of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent can been jailed for up to 15 years for each offence, and rights groups have expressed concern about a series of convictions under the tough rules.

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Thailand welcomes Twitter censorship tool

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- LexisNexis (www.lexisnexis.com), a leading provider of content and technology solutions, announced today at LegalTech® New York, the launch of the LexisNexis®Social Media Visibility service that enables solo practitioners and lawyers at smaller law firms to establish a solid, comprehensive, and manageable social media presence. The service includes creation of an exclusive blog page as well as guidance and assistance in crafting profiles and in generating and posting appropriate content on major social sites, including Facebook®, Twitter® and LinkedIn®. By leveraging social media more effectively, lawyers and firms are better able to demonstrate thought leadership, extend the reach of their websites, improve site performance on search engines, and engage prospective clients via popular interactive communities.

“Consumers use social media tools to find the information they need, including finding lawyers and legal information. We provide customers with an effective strategy for utilizing social media in order to maximize lead generation,” said Phil Livingston, CEO, LexisNexis Marketing & Business Solutions.

“Social media specialists at LexisNexis will help law firms build a credible social media presence through engaging blog content and exposure on top social media sites,” Livingston added.

The LexisNexis Social Media Visibility service begins with either the creation of a custom blog tailored to match the look and feel of the rest of the firm’s website or a unique blog page designed to match the blog’s theme. The LexisNexis team will collaborate with each firm to develop relevant blog content each week based on topics chosen by the firm. The firm has full creative control of content posted. The team increases the blog’s exposure by submitting it to major blog directories, legal blog lists, and to other relevant sites, such as Digg®, YouTubeTM and Squidoo, to generate inbound links. In addition, the team will set up the firm’s Facebook Fan Page and Twitter account with feeds to its blog, and create a LinkedIn company profile that includes attorney profiles.

Law firms also have the option to subscribe to Social Media Visibility Advanced and receive all the benefits of Social Media Visibility, plus even more online exposure that includes two custom-developed blog posts per week, additional submissions to blog directories, and additional individual attorney profiles on LinkedIn.

To learn more about the LexisNexis Social Media Visibility service, please visit http://www.lexisnexis.com/law-firm-marketing/products-and-services/optimization-services/social-media-visibility/.

LexisNexis today also announced the launch of a new portfolio of website products and services for law firms, called LexisNexis®Web Visibility Solutions, featuring search engine and mobile device optimization. Each web product in the LexisNexis Web Visibility Solutions portfolio includes the features and optimization necessary for a law firm to compete effectively in specific practice and geographic areas. The LexisNexis team leverages market data, ongoing testing, analyses of legal search engine marketing trends, proprietary law firm website conversion research, and our own experience in creating and/or hosting more than 40,000 law firm websites to create sites that rank competitively and convert more site visitors to clients.

“LexisNexis Web Visibility Solutions are backed by a team of web design and SEO specialists who help ensure each site competes effectively, ranks high on search engine results, can be found easily by the rapidly growing segment of mobile device users and convert visitors to leads,” Livingston added.

Along with the search engine and basic mobile optimization and basic blogging platform that come standard, these Web Visibility products all feature LexisNexis® Client Center. Named “Best Legal Solution” in the 2012 Software & Industry Information Association (SIIA) CODiE Awards, LexisNexis Client Center is an online client collaboration portal built directly into a law firm’s website, where lawyers and their clients can easily and quickly exchange documents and relevant case information in a secure environment. By providing a secure, online conduit for calendar, contact, task and other information sharing directly from a firm’s website, Client Center offers smaller firms the ability to deliver more efficient client service, differentiate themselves from their competitors, and reduce administrative costs – all while maintaining attorney-client privilege. Client Center is powered by LexisNexis Firm Manager™, an online practice management application for solo practitioners and small law practices.

For more information about LexisNexis Web Visibility Solutions, please click on the following link:

http://www.lexisnexis.com/law-firm-marketing/products-and-services/websites-seo-social/

About LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LexisNexis® Legal & Professional (www.lexisnexis.com) is a leading global provider of content and technology solutions that enable professionals in legal, corporate, tax, government, academic and non-profit organizations to make informed decisions and achieve better business outcomes. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. Today, LexisNexis Legal & Professional harnesses leading-edge technology and world-class content, to help professionals work in faster, easier and more effective ways. Through close collaboration with its customers, the company ensures organizations can leverage its solutions to reduce risk, improve productivity, increase profitability and grow their business. Part of Reed Elsevier, LexisNexis Legal & Professional serves customers in more than 100 countries with 10,000 employees worldwide.

LexisNexis helps solo practitioners and specialized law firms enhance their online presence and drive more prospects to their firm. Services offered include website design and development, video production, search engine optimization, robust profiles on leading legal sites Lawyers.comSM and martindale.com®, and coordination of Martindale Hubbell® lawyer ratings services.

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LexisNexis Launches Social Media Visibility Service for Law Firms

Reuters

In the college football world, there’s a lot of talk that Penn State’s recruiting is suffering because its new head coach, Bill O’Brien, is more focused on getting the Patriots’ offense ready for the Super Bowl. That’s not good news for Nittany Lions fans.

But Patriots fans can be satisfied with knowing that at Super Bowl Media Day, all indications were that O’Brien is singularly focused on the Super Bowl, and the only time Penn State is a distraction is when the media asks about it.

O’Brien said today that he is delegating the Penn State stuff to the staff at Penn State until he starts that job on Monday.

“This is about the Patriots this week,” O’Brien said. “I’m thrilled to be the head coach at Penn State, but I’m really focused on the Patriots and trying to do the best we can to put together a great game plan on Sunday.”

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said there has been no change to the game planning process with O’Brien having a second job.

“Bill O’Brien has done everything he normally does, and everything he can possibly do,” Belichick said. “I’m sure he’s spent some extra hours early in the morning and late at night doing things for Penn State. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do here, and he has been very diligent in his responsibilities.”

The Patriots have been in this position before, with Charlie Weis coordinating the offense through the Super Bowl after accepting the Notre Dame head coaching position, and that worked out fine for the Patriots. (Weis’s tenure at Notre Dame didn’t work out quite as well for the Fighting Irish.)

Patriots guard Brian Waters offered an interesting assessment of the O’Brien situation, saying he thinks being at the Super Bowl should be great for recruiting.

“For him, this is the greatest recruiting tool he’s got,” Waters said. “He could have easily walked away and said ‘I’ve got my opportunity somewhere else,’ but instead he’s seeing it through. He’s as fired up as he was the course of the season.”

Waters also praised O’Brien for the fire he showed in his famous sideline confrontation with Tom Brady.

“As players, we liked [the argument],” Waters said. “Those are two positions that can be relaxed . . . I don’t want to say pretty boy positions, but they can be. The guys calling the plays and the guy throwing the ball. To see those two be the most fired up two guys on your team, to us as a football player, a lineman in the trenches every day, we have an appreciation for that.”

Penn State fans can be glad to know their coach is fiery, and not a pretty boy.

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PFT: 5 observations from Patriots' Media Day

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