US Govt: "Could you, er, postpone that Twitter maintenance?"

You know things are getting ridiculous when the United States Government reportedly (Washington Post) asked Twitter to delay it’s scheduled maintenance to avoid disruption for the protesting Iranian citizens.

It is a brilliant, brilliant public relations coup for Twitter.

But it’s ridiculous that the United States Government is asking a private company to delay it’s scheduled maintenance for the benefit of the Iranian people.

If it’s that important — if it’s that critical to the United States international interests, why hasn’t the US State Department nationalised the service?

It’s not official, of course. Let’s have a read of some comical text from the Washington Post.

“One of the areas where people are able to get out the word is through Twitter,” a senior State Department official said in a conversation with reporters, on condition of anonymity. “They announced they were going to shut down their system for maintenance and we asked them not to.”

So was Secretary Clinton rushed from meetings to a secure bunker to scream down the phone at Twitter?

Not quite.

A White House official said “this wasn’t a directive from Secretary of State, but rather was a low-level contact from someone who often talks to Twitter staff.” The official said Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted, according to news reports. “Twitter is simply a medium that all Iranians can use to communicate,” the official said.

Riiight.