Nelson Mandela Is Now on Twitter (All Thanks to This British Guy)

Getty Images
John Hudson 214 Views Apr 18, 2011

Former South African president Nelson Mandela just scored a major perk: The rights to his own Twitter account. The handle @NelsonMandela had been registered by Richard Millington, a British online consultant. But today the Nelson Mandela Foundation announced that Millington has gladly relinquished it. "We are extremely pleased with Mr Millington’s response," said a spokesperson from the foundation. "Millington did not hesitate when we contacted him last week requesting that we take over the page he had created." The foundation didn't waste any time with the newly-acquired account, slapping a logo on the handle and tweeting about various foundation-related events.  Millington has responded in a tweet saying it was no biggie:

The peaceable solution is rarity in the long history of cybersquatting. Jay Leno took a Texas man to court for using the domain name TheJayLenoShow.com to redirect visitors to his real estate website. Pop star Madonna also took a man to court for registering the domain Madonna.com and using it as porn site. And who can forget The Daily Caller's acquisition of KeithOlbermann.com, which, though still in operation, resulted in its own high-profile flame war. Way to go, Rich!

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at jhudson at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Elsewhere on the Web

User Comments

Please type your comment and click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be prompted to log in or register

  • The Atlantic Wire on Twitter
  • The Atlantic Wire RSS Feed
  • The Atlantic Wire iPhone App