Rights activists see double standard in Twitter arrest

The arrest of a New Yorker for using Twitter to alert protesters to police movements at a meeting of world leaders in Pittsburgh last month would be deemed a human rights violation if it happened in Iran or China, rights activists charge. The criminal complaint against Madison said he broke the law by using Twitter to direct unlawful protesters and other people involved in criminal acts to avoid arrest and to inform them of police movements and actions. Laura DeNardis, executive director of Yale Law School's Information Society Project, said Madison's arrest could be used "by repressive countries who may be looking to crack down on technologies." "They might cite this as a justification for thwarting free speech in even more direct ways and for cracking down in cases like we saw in the Iranian election protests," said DeNardis. "To me this seems like a double standard."