In ~2014, my colleague & I argued that social media (esp. Twitter) had become part of the critical infrastructure of disaster response. People were turning to Twitter during crises to share information about impacts and resources. Disaster responders were using the data shared there for situational awareness, and were communicating in real-time with their constituents. Today’s events underscore just how dangerous it is for society to come to rely on private platforms as critical infrastructure.
@tchambers @katestarbird but everything is private anyway. For instance, even 911 uses a private network to be reachable.
Or we have to regulate private companies at some points if they have reached a certain level of public service.
@michaelmathy @tchambers I think we argued in our original paper that regulation was needed, similar to the telecoms. Let me see if I can find it.

@katestarbird @tchambers

Thanks !

But as we were discussing with @wesley in a separate conversation, the fact that Twitter is used for "critical" public information without an approved SLA is a bad risk assessment if it is their only communication channel.