JournalismPakistan.com | Published August 01, 2012
Join our WhatsApp channel
Twitter apologized Tuesday for suspending the account of a British journalist in an incident which prompted accusations it favored its commercial ties with Olympics broadcaster NBC over media freedoms.
Twitter's response came after an outcry over the suspension of Guy Adams, Los Angeles correspondent for The Independent, who had tweeted his outrage over NBC's delay in broadcasting the opening ceremony in order to catch the primetime audience.
Twitter's general counsel Alex McGillivray said the suspension stemmed from the social media site's "Trust and Safety policies," which prompted the company to look into the publication of an NBC executive's email account.
"We want to apologize for the part of this story that we did mess up," McGillivray wrote on the Twitter blog.
He added that "the account has been unsuspended, and we will actively work to ensure this does not happen again."
Twitter said it took the action after its monitors learned of the disclosure of the NBC executive's email address, which some consider "private" information - which would be a violation of the site's rules.
"The team working closely with NBC around our Olympics partnership did proactively identify a tweet that was in violation of the Twitter Rules and encouraged them to file a support ticket with our Trust and Safety team to report the violation, as has now been reported publicly," McGillivray said.
"We do not proactively report or remove content on behalf of other users no matter who they are. This behavior is not acceptable and undermines the trust our users have in us.
"We should not and cannot be in the business of proactively monitoring and flagging content, no matter who the user is -- whether a business partner, celebrity or friend."
News that Adams's account was restored came just ahead of Twitter's comments.
"Oh. My Twitter account appears to have been un-suspended. Did I miss much while I was away?" he tweeted.
Twitter and NBC, a unit of Comcast Corp., have what the companies say is a strategic, non-financial partnership for online content during the Olympics.
But Twitter's handling of the matter raised a howl of protests from analysts saying the company was failing to live up to its obligations to protect the free flow of information.- AFP
September 06, 2013:
August 15, 2013:
July 21, 2013:
July 15, 2013:
June 19, 2013:
April 22, 2013: Television sports announcer Al Michaels was arrested for driving under the influence in Santa Monica, California, after making an illegal U-turn. Michaels, a veteran NBC sportscaster, was cooperative with officers and scheduled to appear in court on June 26. NBC is aware of the situation.
April 10, 2013:
March 11, 2013:
July 08, 2025 As Pakistani authorities move to block YouTube channels of journalists, censorship tightens. Yet, social media has emerged as a defiant force, keeping the spirit of free speech alive despite increasing state control.
July 08, 2025 The Supreme Court of Pakistan has acquitted a murder accused, ruling that confessions made to the media while in police custody are inadmissible. Justice Athar Minallah emphasized due process and transparency in legal proceedings.
July 08, 2025 The Pakistan government has approached a court seeking the removal of several YouTube channels operated by prominent journalists, accusing them of spreading false information and provoking unrest against state institutions.
June 11, 2025 Pakistan celebrated a narrow win over Bangladesh, but beneath the jubilation lies a deeper crisis—from sidelined veterans to a collapsing domestic structure—signaling an urgent need for cricket reform.
June 11, 2025 Journalists walked out of the post-budget press conference in Islamabad to protest the absence of a technical briefing and the government's dismissive behavior, calling it unacceptable and intolerable.