US defence secretary praises social networking tools

Category: Social Media

June 19th 09, 14:00

The US defence secretary has commended the likes of Twitter and Facebook for giving citizens worldwide a new way of communicating with each other.

At a press briefing earlier this week, a journalist asked Robert Gates what he thought of the use of social networking as a tool that could affect government operations in the light of recent events in Iran.

Mr Gates said he believes that new communications technology has been one of the most important developments of the last two decades.

"It's a huge win for freedom around the world because this monopoly of information is no longer in the hands of the government," he commented, going on to call freedom of communication "a huge strategic asset for the US".

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said in a blog post earlier this week that a decision made by the site to delay maintenance work to allow the network to remain available for bloggers in Iran was not influenced by the wishes of the US government, contrary to speculation.

This news story was brought to you by Bluhalo, a leading UK digital agency.


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