Well, yeah - with regards to it being an "external" communication, they say that on p.37 (as I said in my post). The document starts talking about the differen

Well, yeah - with regards to it being an "external" communication, they say that on p.37 (as I said in my post). The document starts talking about the differences between internal and external communications on p.37 and how a tweet that isn't directed to another British citizen is considered an external communication because the server is in the US. They then continue by saying on p.41 that even though that tweet is an external communication, they still aren't authorized to intercept it unless it's "necessary" under section RIPA 5(6)(a) and the tweet also isn't authorized for "selection for examination" unless it meets other criteria under RIPA section 16. The article is focusing on the fact that the tweet is an external communication and neglecting to mention that there are still additional restrictions on collecting external communications. What Charles Farr is saying in that document is a far cry from the article's wording: "By defining the use of ‘platforms’ such as Facebook, Twitter and Google as ‘external communications’, British residents are being deprived of the essential safeguards that would otherwise be applied to their communications - simply because they are using services that are based outside the UK." (After skimming through RIPA, though, I will concede that UK laws can be very obtuse. Section 16 gave me a headache - but that's an entirely different issue than the external communication argument)