Biz Stone blog asserts that Twitter is a human right

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and General Council Alexander Macgillivray have co-written a blog post titled “The Tweets Must Flow,” being viewed as a direct reference to the clampdown on internet use in Egypt and attacks against WikiLeaks. 

The blog post essentially argues that freedom of expression is a human right.

Egypt cut off the country's internet service in an attempt to disrupt plans for massive new protests on Friday.

The government of Hosni Mubarak aimed to weaken an opposition that began with no leaders but built its strength in numbers thanks to online organizing. The protesters have used new media tools to rally those angry with Mubarak's authoritarian regime.

The government began blocking access to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter from Wednesday, disrupting mobile-phone text messaging and BlackBerry Messenger services and then completely shutting down the internet. About 25 percent of Egypt's population uses the internet.

While Stone and Macgillivray do not explicitly mention any one particular incident in the post,  the language of “The Tweets Must Flow" hints at recent news events.

Arguing that the goal of Twitter is to "instantly connect people everywhere," the blog makes the assertion that “some tweets may facilitate positive change in a repressed country,” likely a reference to Tunisia and Egypt, according to TechCrunch.

"The open exchange of information can have a positive global impact. This is both a practical and ethical belief," Stone and Macgillivray write.

They continue: "Discussion on topics from geopolitical events to wardrobe malfunctions make Twitter both important and fun."

And: "From an ethical perspective, almost every country in the world agrees that freedom of expression is a human right."

In an apparent reference to WikiLeaks, the blogs reads: "Our position on freedom of expression carries with it a mandate to protect our users' right to speak freely and preserve their ability to contest having their private information revealed. While we may need to release information as required by law, we try to notify Twitter users before handing over their information whenever we can.”

The company did this recently when the Department of Justice asked for data from WikiLeaks supporters.

TechCrunch quotes Twitter’s Sean Garrett as saying that the post was the result of a year of mulling over important geo-political issues in which "Twitter is now an unlikely player."

“We thought it important for us to explain our principles for both big things like being blocked in China to much more specific decisions like a DMCA request over a single Tweet," Garrett said. "Recent big global events vividly demonstrate the implications of this approach.”