Twitter Accused of Censoring Wikileaks, Anonymous Supporters

Reports have emerged alleging social network giant Twitter is censoring its content, closing accounts supporting anti-authoritarian causes such as Wikileaks and the Anonymous sponsored Occupy movement.

The initial report of Twitter censoring users stemmed from Business Insider columnist David Seaman Monday. In his report Seaman alleged that his Twitter account had been closed as a means to silence his ongoing support for the Occupy movement and "talking too much" about the controversial detainment without trial provisions in America's FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

"Imagine my surprise this morning when, without warning, my shiny new Twitter account (@d_seaman) was suspended and taken offline," read Seaman's opening statement.

Continuing: "My crime? Talking too much about Occupy Wall Street (I'm not an Occupier, but as a blogger and journalist it strikes me as one of the most important stories out there -- hence the constant coverage), and talking too much about the controversial detainment without trial provisions contained in the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which would basically shred the Bill of Rights and subject American citizens to military police forces."

Twitter reportedly closed the account for spamming, an accusation Seaman vehemently denied. "I wasn't spamming. I wasn't hawking affiliate or porn links or any of the trash that should get one swiftly suspended from Twitter."

Following Seaman's initial claims a slew of other Twitter users soon stepped forward making the same claim. Among their number was IBTimes' U.S. journalist Connor Adams Sheets who alleged Twitter had forcibly closed his account for supporting the same issues as Seaman.

Following the report, Business Insider added to Seaman's post reporting Twitter had contacted it confirming the company will "never mediate content" and that Seaman's account had been closed by mistake.

"Twitter has automated systems that find and remove multiple automated spam accounts in bulk. Unfortunately, it looks like your account got caught up in one of these spam groups by mistake. I've restored your account; sorry for the inconvenience. Please note that it may take an hour or so for your follower and following numbers to return to normal," Business Insider reported Twitter as commenting.

At the time this article was written, Twitter had not responded to the International Business Times UK's request for confirmation and comment of the censorship claims. However it is worth mentioning that, despite the lack of official word, if true, the censorship policy would be a marked change from Twitter's previous behaviour. On numerous occasions, including the UK riots in August, Twitter has refused requests to shut down its service, or moderate its content.