Twitter Says Internet Shutdowns ‘Violate Basic Human Rights’ — in Uganda. By Joel Pollack.

Twitter has spoken out in favor of free speech, and against the shutdown of the Internet — in Uganda.

Twitter’s public policy department tweeted in opposition to reported efforts to shut down internet access ahead of Uganda’s election this week, where President Yoweri Museveni is asking voters for a sixth term. He has been in office for 35 years.

Last week, Twitter banned President Donald Trump from its platform permanently. It also continues to suspend and expel tens of thousands of Trump supporters. Twitter’s main competitor, Parler, was also kicked off Amazon’s servers.

This week, however, Twitter stood up for free speech and the open Internet, arguing that “Access to information and freedom of expression, including the public conversation on Twitter, is never more important than during democratic processes, particularly elections.”

Twitter also specifically opposed the blocking of “social media and messaging apps.”

Twitter is killing democracy.

hat-tip Stephen Neil