[gojomo]

Headline draws controversial conclusion from incomplete data and should be changed.

For example, this could be the result of automated measures to prevent spamming the trending topics gone haywire. Or not. But accusing censorship without knowing the whole story is just hair-trigger indignation.

[ertug]

Changed the headline to a question.

[three14]

When did you stop beating your wife?

I understand that you actually mean well, and mean the question seriously, but in "Internet discussion" the question mark only protects the reputation of the asker, but does nothing to protect the reputation of Twitter.

[rriepe]

An analogous question would be "Are you beating your wife?"

"Is Twitter censoring?" isn't assuming anything in the question.

[three14]

You're right, of course. But I still think that someone skimming the HN headlines thinks, "Oh, Twitter probably censoring something or it wouldn't be on HN" unless they read the comments.

[davidw]

Isn't that more of a comment on the state of the readership than anything else?

[three14]

I think it's just human.

"#flotilla not working on Twitter. Censorship or bug?" would be a better choice because it isn't a leading question.

Edit: Is a headline like "Did pressure from Apple cause a Foxconn employee to commit suicide?" neutral, or just avoiding a libel suit?

[donohoe]

Agree. While you cover yourself you still make a slur to which the is little comeback.

[petercooper]

While you cover yourself you still make a slur to which the is little comeback.

Except "No, we are not censoring #flotilla," of course.

[three14]

That's exactly what's so interesting about these kinds of questions. Let's say they were really censoring, and they said, "No, we are not censoring #flotilla," and stopped censoring. You can't tell the difference between that and a bug followed by a bug fix, so they have trouble putting the suspicion to rest.

[donohoe]

True. At that point it comes down to a level of trust. Do you trust the organization based on your knowledge and experience.

In this case I would say Yes. For many others I would say No.