Blessing in disguise...

Twitter's new policy has rightly caused uproar around the world, since it restricts the freedom of speech. Even if it comes from a "lawful" request to delete a certain tweet or Twitter account for infractions.

But, there are a couple of things that can offer a silver lining on the whole matter.

First, and is where I can at least give Twitter some credit, is that it was transparent on how and why the process of blocking certain tweets will take place.

The tweets in question will only will be block in the jurisdiction where it was required to do so, and will be available everywhere else. Not only that, Twitter committed itself to put the reason why it was taken down, and who asked for the tweet to be removed.

Not only that, Twitter will review each case before making the choice to block the tweet. Hopefully, it will not bulge to undo pressures and act according to the facts at hand when making such decisions.

Since all this commitment was made in the open, in a fully transparent way not only to the users, but to the whole world at large it gives everyone the chance to check on Twitter that in fulfill it's commitment to keep the reasons of the blocks open and in sight of everyone.

As a matter of fact, this is a lesson many companies and even governments should follow when dealing with their actions that deal with people outside themselves. All those actions should be done in an open and transparent way.

Secondly, and most importantly, it could give us a rare chance to see who, and why, is censoring what information. This could give us a better idea on how to counter censorship by regimes that use it.

It's a golden opportunity for freedom of speech advocates to gather as much information as possible on how censorships is used and applied not only by governments, but also by private individuals or groups. And the information gathered could be used to more effectively counter those things that attempt our freedom of speech.

In this case, we should not only be asking why Twitter would have to block any tweet. The answer is they shouldn't have to do so.

We should be also be asking who and why there should be such be any such request. This change of policy by Twitter can give us the such answers. And not only that, it may give us the tools to more effectively fight back.