Twitter CEO Dick Costolo tweets Iran president to undo Twitter ban
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has received a request from Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo asking him to unban the social network in the country.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani
The tweets saw the Twitter head confront president Hassan Rouhani - who has over a quarter of a million followers on the site - over the fact the Iranian people cannot access their leader’s posts.
The president’s account was used to publicise Rouhani’s speech at the United Nations on Thursday.
Arriving at a final comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran will be a historic opportunity for West to show that it does not oppose 1/3
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 25, 2014
advancement & development of others, & does not discriminate when it comes to adhering to international rules and regulations. 2/3
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 25, 2014
However, the head of the social network directly messaged the Iranian president, asking him when he will undo the ban of the social network which has been in place since 2009.
.@HassanRouhani Mr. President, enjoying your Tweets from the UN. We would love the Iranian people to enjoy them as well. When will that be? — dick costolo (@dickc) September 25, 2014Some social media users congratulated Costolo for his remark in which he appeared focused on making Iran a more open nation. However, others suspected the Twitter CEO was more interested in opening up the Iranian market to his firm.
.@dickc way to turn a political message into a business oppty. Never saw that one coming :) #longlivethetwitter — Dire Wolff (@direwolff) September 25, 2014Last year, Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder, had a similar swipe at the Iranian leader in which he said: “Good evening, President. Are citizens of Iran able to read your tweets?”
To this question Rouhani actually responded: “Evening, @Jack. As I told @camanpour, my efforts geared 2 ensure my ppl'll comfortably b able 2 access all info globally as is their #right.”
Earlier this year, Turkey waged a war against social media issuing bans on Twitter and YouTube during a period of civil unrest.