Twitter issues report about govt. requestsJuly 16, 2012 - 14:17 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Twitter has issued its first report about the requests it received this year from various governments for user information, and its responses. According to ComputerWorld, the U.S. government asked for information about far more users than any other country, the report says. Between Jan. 1 and June 30, Twitter received 679 requests for information from U.S. authorities pertaining to 948 users. Japan came in a distant second, with 98 requests concerning 147 users. Most Twitter users are in the U.S., according to social media consultancy Semiocast. Japan is the third-largest Twitter user, after Brazil. Twitter provided some or all of the information sought in 75% of the U.S. government's requests. The company provided data in response to half the requests from the Netherlands and to one-third of the requests from Japan and Australia. Most requests were connected to criminal cases, Twitter said, adding that requests so far this year have exceeded the total for all of 2011. Governments recognize that social networks store a great deal of information that could be useful to law enforcement, said Eva Galperin, a freedom of expression coordinator at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Therefore, she noted, the companies are "extremely powerful" and are "capable of de facto censorship." Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |