What Moral Role Does Google/Twitter Play in Egypt?
The last internet provider in Egypt went dark yesterday at around 11pm local time. But don't expect the Egyptians' twitter feeds to go dry. Google--a company whose code of ethics begins with the words "Don't be evil"--has stepped in, engineering a way to keep the revolution alive, at least on twitter.
In a blog post, Google announced:
Like many people we’ve been glued to the news unfolding in Egypt and thinking of what we could do to help people on the ground. Over the weekend we came up with the idea of a speak-to-tweet service—the ability for anyone to tweet using just a voice connection.
We worked with a small team of engineers from Twitter, Google and SayNow, a company we acquired last week, to make this idea a reality. It’s already live and anyone can tweet by simply leaving a voicemail on one of these international phone numbers (+16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855) and the service will instantly tweet the message using the hashtag #egypt. No Internet connection is required. People can listen to the messages by dialing the same phone numbers or going to twitter.com/speak2tweet.
We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time. Our thoughts are with everyone there.
Reuters reports that "according to a source familiar with the matter," the company "was not taking sides in the crisis in Egypt, but was simply supporting access to information as it has done with other services such as video website YouTube." That strikes me as a bizarrely amoral statement, especially in light of the fact that Google launched the twitter service "to help people on the ground."
Perhaps Google wants to distance itself from the actual revolution in case it all goes horribly wrong, a reality that Mona Charen highlights--as others on Ricochet have--in her column today:
Last week, ElBaradei told Der Spiegel: "We should stop demonizing the Muslim Brotherhood. ... (T)hey have not committed any acts of violence in five decades. They too want change. If we want democracy and freedom, we have to include them instead of marginalizing them."
There is the echo of every naive revolutionary in the history of the world. Such people can topple autocrats -- as the Mensheviks did in Russia, the secular reformers in Iran, the anti-Batista forces in Cuba, and liberal elements in Nicaragua -- but they can seldom seize and hold power. Most are rewarded with a bullet to the back of the head within hours of the new regime's ascendancy....
In 2005, tens of thousands of Lebanese thronged the streets in the so-called "Cedar Revolution" to demand freedom, democracy, and the ouster of the Syrians. Today, Hezbollah is in effective control of the country. In 2006, the Palestinians, voting against corruption and for change, elected Hamas.
The men and women on the streets of Egypt's cities have been inspired by the example of Tunisia and the hope of a better life. But the Muslim Brotherhood has been preparing for this day for decades. As Michael Ledeen's grandmother warned: "Things are never so bad that they can't get worse."
"Don't be evil," as I mentioned is Google's moral motto. "Don't cause evil," is not. But should it be? What if Google/Twitter are flaming the fans of a revolution that could end more violently than it began?
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: What Moral Role Does Google/Twitter Play in Egypt?
Perhaps Ricochet's Moderators should oversee the feed before Twitter can post it.
Jan '11
Re: What Moral Role Does Google/Twitter Play in Egypt?
What moral role does Google-Twitter play in Egypt?
The same moral role it plays in every other country, none.
Dec '10
Re: What Moral Role Does Google/Twitter Play in Egypt?
Google motto is "don't be evil" but their stated reason for existance is to make all information available in an easily searchable form to all people. This perfectly in line with tme...not to mention all the add revenue that I am sure the eygpt twitter feeds bring in.
May '10
Re: What Moral Role Does Google/Twitter Play in Egypt?
I think it revolutionized the revolution. Watching a revolution in real time on twitter over the past couple weeks has been absolutely gripping.
Oct '10
Re: What Moral Role Does Google/Twitter Play in Egypt?
The real lesson here is that no matter what the powerful do to stop communications, the inventive will defeat their best efforts. In this country our own Mu-Barak Obama in-waiting, is in the process of seizing control of the internet, or at least developing the pretext as a standby. Already, Google has begun the innovative process that will explode into fruition if Mu-Barak employs this power.
May '10
Re: What Moral Role Does Google/Twitter Play in Egypt?
Doing well by doing good. Nothing wrong with that.
Dec '10
Re: What Moral Role Does Google/Twitter Play in Egypt?
Where was "don't be evil" when Google was playing along with the government of the People's Republic of China in order to gain access to that market?
Oct '10
Re: What Moral Role Does Google/Twitter Play in Egypt?
Emily, don't forget Pakistan, the only remaining country Obama hasn't screwed up yet.
Bush and Blair were smart by anticipating a revolt like what is happening now in Egypt and worked with Musharraf to transition Pakistan from dictatorship to democracy with help from popular Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto.