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Twitter a lifeline to Iranian protesters

By Sharon Gaudin

June 22, 2009 12:01 AM ET

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Computerworld - During the period of unrest following the disputed Iranian presidential election of June 5, the Twitter social network became something of a lifeline for the people of Iran.

While the Iranian government blocked various channels of communication -- disabling phone lines, satellite links and even text messaging tools -- citizens were able to tell the rest of the world about the situation there in 140-character bursts, at least through late last week.

In fact, Twitter Inc. acknowledged that the U.S. State Department asked it to delay scheduled site maintenance work early last week to allow Iranians to use the service.

In a blog post, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone noted that while "the State Department does not have access to our decision-making process," the company decided to postpone the maintenance for a day to show the "growing significance of Twitter as an important communication and information network."

This version of this story originally appeared in Computerworld's print edition. It is a modified version of an article that first appeared on Computerworld.com.

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