The sports media world is in a heated debate after two of the biggest names in the industry, Deadspin and SB Nation, had their Twitter accounts disabled over copyright claims.
According to NBC News, top professional and collegiate sports organizations such as the NFL, UFC, BIG 12, and SEC filed take down notices with Twitter. Both accounts often post short GIF clips from various sporting events and this is what many believe is the source of the suspension.
Other speculators levied more serious allegations. According to Variety there are some who believe that the act was a case of blatant censorship; due to the fact that Twitter and the NFL recently inked a partnership with one another. Here's a tweet from Gawker executive editor Lacey Donohue.
RE: @Deadspin: per the notice from Twitter, it looks like it's the NFL.
— Lacey Donohue (@laceydonohue) October 12, 2015
I'm told that it was the NFL — not the MLBAM — that sent the DMCA takedown requests that got @deadspin suspended. — Peter Sterne (@petersterne) October 12, 2015
An NFL spokesperson told Variety that they did indeed ask for certain pieces of content to be removed, but did not order twitter to remove the accounts entirely.
"The NFL sent routine notices as part of its copyright enforcement program requesting that Twitter disable links to more than a dozen pirated NFL game videos and highlights that violate the NFL's copyrights. We did not request that any Twitter account be suspended," said the spokesperson.
Regardless, the damage has been done. Certain sports media personalities have taken the act as a shot across the bow and have threatened to leave the platform. ESPN's Keith Olbermann was among the most vocal.
Hey, @Twitter - reinstate @Deadspin. Gratuitous l, unexplained censorship is indefensible. They come back, or we go.
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) October 12, 2015
So, #Utley broke a guy's leg and got suspended by MLB for 2 games, but @Deadspin tweeted a GIF and MLB got them suspended indefinitely? — Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) October 12, 2015
