Twitter apologizes to suspend the account to Guy Adams

But soon came. An apology or at least an explanation from Twitter was what was requested since they knew the circumstances of the suspension of the account of the correspondent of The Independent, Guy Adams , as that clearly looked like a crude attempt to censor of what was hashtagueado as # NBCfail.

The reporter, after a series of tweets and an article highly critical of NBC's coverage of the Olympic Games, saw his account suspended under the Twitter notification that he was violating the privacy of user data.

The user in question was Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics and the head of NBC's coverage, which email firm Adams published in a tweet and Twitter right there was reason to justify the suspension of the account. But things began to get murkier when we put in context other data:

• NBC, whose coverage was being criticized not only Adams but also other Twitter users, and that was the one who made ​​the complaint for them to close the account of Guy Adams, is an important strategic partner for this event Twitter
• The email published by Adams was their business email, an address which can not be considered private or personal.
• As was learned later, were employees of Twitter who, after watching the tweets of Adams, NBC advised to bring the complaint to suspend the account of Adams

A few hours ago Twitter account run again and he began to tweet the answer right there he had sent in an email Twitter: a line where you said that the account was reinstated because those who had complained they withdrew their application.

The explanation and apology would come later, when Adams was already counting his case on CNN.

Alex Macgillivray (@ AMAC), general counsel for Twitter, launched a tweet with a link to an article in the official blog where they explain their position on the private information of its users and its procedures in such cases.

. @ guyadams Let me add to my personal apology for your suspension blog.twitter.com/2012/07/our-ap ... is a longer post private info & About our process.

- Alex Macgillivray (@ AMAC) July 31, 2012

The article explains that when the complaint to an account, they suspend it to find out what happened. With regard to the company say that email users can use their email in different ways, and they can not know the input, so apply this approach to all accounts. They also confirm that part of the team working with NBC at the Olympics detected a tweet that was not fulfilling the terms of service and encouraged the NBC to open a ticket to report the user. Most importantly, apologize for what happened and added:

(...) We do not proactively report or remove content on Behalf Of other users no matter who They are. This is not acceptable Behavior and undermines the trust in us Have our users. We Should not and can not be in the business of proactively monitoring and flagging content, no matter who the user is - Whether a business partner, friend or celebrity. As of Earlier today, the account unsuspended Has Been, and we will work to Actively Ensure this does not happen again.

(...) We do not dedicate ourselves to proactively report or delete content on behalf of others no matter who they are. This behavior is unacceptable and undermines the trust our users place in us. We must not and we can be proactively monitored and prohibiting content, no matter who the user, if a business partner, a celebrity or a friend. Today the account has been restored and work actively to make sure this never happens again.

A declaration of principles that those who use Twitter have known we were waiting for other cases in which this company has defended its users proactively. Freedom of expression and the rights of those who use its platform undoubtedly play a far more important than any sponsorship, and they know it perfectly. Twitter risked much by staying silent about the allegations of censorship: the resolution of the issue by Guy Adams and his statement has arrived just in time to prove that their community remains not only their greatest asset but also a priority.