Twitter to ‘work closer’ in UK public sector

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ahead of their one-year anniversary of operating in the UK, Twitter has said it now wants to have a closer role with government and policymakers, BBC News reports.

The site has revealed that there are over 10 million active tweeters across the nation. Its UK general manager Tony Wang said it is a priority to "protect and defend" the voice of those users.

The comments follow a year in which the service faced tough questions over privacy and regulation.

The network said it now has over 140 million active users worldwide. In the UK, 80% of active users access the site through their mobile, compared to 55% globally.

Now, Wang said the company is looking to work closer in the public sector. As part of a massive worldwide recruiting push, the company is hiring a public policy manager.

Wang said the new recruit would work with "the government, various ministries, members of parliament as well as law enforcement".

Alberto Nardelli, co-founder and chief executive of Tweetminster, an independent site that tracks politicians use of the network, said Twitter has in the past year become a fundamental part of political discourse in the UK, with over 340 MPs using the service, up from around 100 at the time of the last election.