CC image courtesy of Jonathan Rashad, on Flickr.
Twitter is translating Tweets from leading Egyptians for non-Arabic speakers in the wake of the military’s ousting of president Mohammed Morsi.
Morsi was overthrown on Wednesday, with HumanIPO reporting yesterday on the shutdown of some Egyptian television stations.
Twitter confirmed to AllThingsD they were experimenting with Tweet translation, using the Microsoft Bing translator.
“As part of our experiment with Tweet text translation, we’ve enabled translation for some of the most-followed accounts in Egypt, so people around the world can better understand and keep up with what’s happening there,” the statement said.
The experimental service has allowed non-Egyptians to read the Tweets of Morsi, as well as other figures such as opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei and Arab Spring activist Wael Ghonim.
Twitter has also provided a list of the 63 accounts it is translating
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism fellow Federico Guerrini told the BBC: “I think it opens a lot of chances for independent storytellers and bloggers to make their voice reach a wider audience.
“In the future, activists and bloggers from foreign countries could bypass the filter of Western ‘curators’ and tell the world live what is happening.
“Journalists will also have easier access to a number of sources previously unavailable.”
HumanIPO reported yesterday on how the coup may affect the country’s growing telecom sector.
