page_title: Twitter usage
section_title: Examples of impact
hierarchical_section_title: Twitter usage / Politics and protests / Examples of impact
caption_attribution_description: English: Jack Dorsey and Barack Obama at Twitter Town Hall in July 2011
context_page_description: Since the launch of Twitter on July 15, 2006, there have been many notable uses for the service, in a variety of environments.
context_section_description: During the 13th Federal Assembly in May 2009, two members of the German Bundestag leaked the result of the German presidential election via Twitter before the President of the Bundestag officially announced Horst Köhler as the winner.
  In June 2009, following the allegations of fraud in the Iranian presidential election, protesters used Twitter as a rallying tool and method of communication with the outside world after the government blocked several other modes of communication. 
  On June 15, 2009, Twitter rescheduled a planned 90-minute maintenance outage after a number of Twitter users and the US State Department asked Twitter executives to delay the shutdown because of concerns about the service's role as a primary communication medium by the protesters in Iran. CNN's coverage of the conflict was criticized in tweets with the hashtag "#CNNfail". Twitter was also used to organize DDoS attacks against Iranian government websites.
  In August 2009, when American opponents of President Barack Obama's health insurance reform proposals attacked the British National Health Service, thousands of NHS users took part in a Twitter campaign expressing their support for the NHS with use of the "#welovetheNHS" hashtag. The hashtag was initiated by Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan, who said he wanted to use a Twitter campaign "as a counterweight against the lies of the American right". The campaign also received the support of several politicians including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
  New York City activist Elliot Madison used Twitter to message an order to disperse from the Pittsburgh police during the 2009 G-20 Pittsburgh protests. Police raided Madison's hotel room, and one week later Madison's New York home was raided by FBI agents, who conducted a sixteen-hour search. Police claim Madison and a co-defendant used computers and a radio scanner to track police movements and then passed on that information to protesters using cell phones and Twitter. Madison is being charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility, and possession of instruments of crime. The FBI collected miscellany such as refrigerator magnets, and a Curious George stuffed animal, despite that the warrant issued asked for evidence that indicated potential violations of federal rioting laws. In light of the United States Department of State's recent public support of Twitter use in the politics of Iran, Moldova, and Honduras, it is asked whether the State Department supports free speech in the United States.
  In October 2009, after The Guardian newspaper was served with an injunction banning it from reporting on a parliamentary matter, it published a cryptic article with the few details it was allowed to report. The paper claimed that this case appears "to call into question privileges guaranteeing free speech established under the 1688 Bill of Rights". The paper's editor Alan Rusbridger credited Twitter users with taking the initiative to provide details that the press was not allowed to print, namely, that the injunction was taken out by the London solicitor Carter-Ruck on behalf of commodities trader Trafigura, who did not want public discussion of the 2006 Côte d'Ivoire toxic waste dump scandal and the resulting Minton Report (available on WikiLeaks). The reporting injunction was withdrawn by Carter-Ruck the next day before The Guardian could challenge it in the High Court. Rusbridger credited the rapid back-down of Carter-Ruck to Twitter, as did a BBC article.
  Twitter came to the attention of the House of Commons of Canada in October 2009 when Member of Parliament Ujjal Dosanjh apologized on the floor for improperly "tweeting about matters that ought not to have been tweeted about" during "in camera" proceedings of a parliamentary committee.
  In October 2009, Twitter once again came to the attention of the Canadian public when Vancouver Councilor Andrea Reimer tweeted regarding the British Columbia Minister of Housing and Social Development Rich Coleman's weight in response to provincial legislation proposed by 
caption: Dorsey said after the Twitter Town Hall with Barack Obama held in July 2011, that Twitter received over 110,000 tweets with #askobama.[76]
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