Twitter’s suspension of journalist Guy Adams so soon after his brutal criticism of NBC’s Olympics coverage certainly didn’t pass the smell test, but Techmeme’s Gabe Rivera has provided a thoughtful defense of Twitter’s actions.
Twitter, of course, has teamed with NBC to cover the 2012 Olympic Games, and it was NBC’s complaint — that Adams had violated Twitter’s terms of service by tweeting the non-public email address of NBC’s Gary Zenkel —that led to the suspension. Rivera argues that Twitter may have had a point. Just what is a non-public email address?
But in Twitter's defense, just because an email address appears in a few places on the internet doesn't make it "public" in the usual sense.
— Gabe Rivera (@gaberivera) July 30, 2012
@gaberivera Maybe, but it's virtually impossible to adequately define "public" and "private," and there's nothing in Twitter TOS on this.
— Adam L. Penenberg (@Penenberg) July 30, 2012
@gaberivera Even when it's [email protected]?
— Lauren Weinstein (@laurenweinstein) July 30, 2012
I think a reasonable interpretation of "public" would be email addresses a company publicizes for public use. /cc @blake @laurenweinstein
— Gabe Rivera (@gaberivera) July 30, 2012
As many pointed out, it’s not hard to figure out a business address. But does that make it public?
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https://twitter.com/Chanders/status/230081267411058688
.@Chanders No. Here's why: I could blog your email address today, then tomorrow tweet, asking my followers to flood your now "public" email.
— Gabe Rivera (@gaberivera) July 30, 2012
Bottom line: if Twitter blesses tweeting non intentionally public email addresses, Twitter becomes a tool for launching email bombings.
— Gabe Rivera (@gaberivera) July 30, 2012
After Adams’ suspension, which critics called “ominous” and “appalling,” a clarification of terms of service would be welcome.
So my todo for Twitter is: clarify "public" in your TOS, unsuspend @guyadams, and thank me with an @-mention. I'm gonna take a nap now.
— Gabe Rivera (@gaberivera) July 30, 2012