Twitter has blocked access to a neo-Nazi
account at the request of the German
government.
The tweets will no longer be visible to users
in Germany although the rest of the world
will be able to view them.
It is the first time the social networking site
has implemented its local censorship
policy, which came into force in January.
That policy allows it to block content in
specific countries if tweets violate local
laws.
Announcing the decision, Twitter's general
counsel Alex Macgillivray said : "Never
want to withhold content; good to have
tools to do it narrowly and transparently."
In the tweet, he published links to the letter
sent by German police, requesting the
account be closed.
The letter outlined how the government
had banned the organisation Besseres
Hannover, (Better Hannover), a right-wing
extremist group from Lower Saxony.
"It is disbanded, its assets are seized and
all its accounts in social networks have to
be closed immediately," the letter read.
Members of the group have been charged
with inciting racial hatred and creating a
criminal organisation.
Besseres Hannover is accused of issuing
threats against immigrants and distributing
racist pamphlets at schools in Lower
Saxony.
It is also suspected of sending a
threatening video to the state's social
affairs minister Aygul Ozkan, a German-
born conservative politician whose family
comes from Turkey.
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