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From Wired How-To Wiki

When Twitter announced a change to their censorship policy in January, Twitter users and pundits rose dutifully to the defense of free speech. Critics said the company sought to silence voices of dissent in compliance with requests from autocratic governments and anti-transparency bureaucracies.

The uproar, however, may have been in haste. Twitter has always had an obligation to remove illegal content; their new policy simply ensures prohibited tweets disappear only within the borders of the offended country. Offense alone also provides no grounds for removal. On its website, Twitter says it deletes tweets only after receiving a valid and scoped request from an authorized entity."

While this change in policy won't affect you if Twitter is your go-to for funny pictures or Foursquare check-ins, activists or rebels may be worried that government intervention will cause this vessel of communication to be lost to them forever. For those trying to avoid inciting the wrath of those who wish to censor you, we've compiled these tips that will help you escape prying authoritative eyes.

This article was written by John Flanagan, a Vermont-based writer, film fan, and intermittent bon vivant.

Twitter will notify you directly if youre being censored, unless theyre legally prohibited from doing so. You can check for yourself by viewing your own tweets. Censored tweets from others appear in your timeline with a message reading, Tweet Withheld: This tweet from (@Username) has been withheld in: (your country). If a particular Twitter user whom you follow has been blocked, a similar message will appear: (@Username) Withheld: This account has been withheld in: (Your country).

Fret not, however, because there are a few simple tricks to get around these blocks.

Twitter wields the hushcloth according to your accounts Country setting. The company guesses where you live based upon the IP address of your computer, phone, iPad, etc., and changing this location is a cinch. Heres how:

Eschew censorship by referencing sensitive material indirectly in your tweets. For instance, instead of referring to a controversial despot by name, tweet about the fourth president of Egypt or the successor of Hafez al-Assad. While this approach may evade detection, the cleverly-worded content continues to violate laws.

l33tspeak (leet or elite speak) doesn't just belong to hackers it has its benefit for dissidents as well. Certain censors filter certain words, so where revolt might not fly, r3v0lt sneaks through undetected. In English, substituting ASCII characters for letters of the Roman alphabet, or using intentional misspellings, helps evade trackers. Many languages have their own version of l33tspeak, such as Russians Padonkaffsky Jargon and Japaneses Kusachu. Like clever wording, however, this approach is still illegal, and thus grounds for removal.

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Avoid Twitter Censorship