The Guardian reports that American civil rights organisations have gone to court in Virginia to protest against a US government order which seeks to disclose the details of private Twitter accounts related to whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
In the meantime, Twitter, a micro-blogging website, has been instrumental in Egyptians getting the word out during the media clampdown enforced in the current civil uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
The US govt’s move against Twitter has raised constitutional issues about the protection of individual rights to privacy in the digital age.
Ironically, on the same day as the civil rights organisations were in court, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton made a speech in Washington in which she praised the positive role of social networking sites in the Tunisian and Egyptian riots.
