By the power of Twitter! Democracy isn't dead!

Goodness gracious, Twitter's had an eventful week. On the 12th October it managed to get Carter-Ruck, a big scary law firm representing a company called Trafigura, to back down on an injunction against The Guardian newspaper. This injunction prevented The Guardian from reporting about accusations that Trafigura is responsible for the dumping of toxic waste on the Ivory Coast that may have led the to death of 15 people.

The news of the injunction was massive on Twitter, with Trafigura and Carter-Ruck topping the most discussed topics on site that day. This massive campaign by 'Twitterers' had an equally massive effect on Carter-Ruck: they were forced to drop the injunction and freedom of speech won a monumental victory. The implications of the injunction were gigantic, and the fact it even got to a stage where it took the power of the people for what was right to prevail is seriously scary.

However, despite having dealt a huge blow to a corporate powerhouse, Twitter wasn't finished being the centre of attention, no sirree!

The recent death of Boyzone member Stephen Gately left everyone surprised, saddened and baffled as to how a fit, young and healthy man suddenly dropped dead of natural causes. Sadness soon turned to anger, however, as Jan Moir's article in the Daily Mail (orginally titled 'Why there was nothing "Natural" about Stephen Gately's death') managed to cause Twitter to erupt in a way that made the Trafigura scandal look like a lovers tiff.

Her article resulted in a massive backlash from celebrities and the public, with Twitter being the major outlet from whichthe anger could be expressed. Notable famous faces that have striked her off their Christmas card list included Stephen Fry, Derren Brown and Charlie Brooker.

Jan Moir, unfortunately, is still on the Mail's payroll, but her article is being investigated by the PCC (even though they're useless) and could result in her justifiable sacking. More significantly however is the fact that major companies such as Marks and Spencers, Nestlé and Nescafé all voiced their disapproval of the article. This level of outrage has left Jan Moir's reputation in tatters and effectively ended her career as a journalist. As Derren Brown put it: "If Gateley's [sic] passing causes today's kind of gutter-journalism to be held to account, we can perhaps take that as a tribute."

The fact that this and the Trafigura furore resulted in action against two incredibly powerful insititutions shows just how influential Twitter has become in the short time it's been online. Combine this with its ability to convey breaking news at such a rapid pace (for example, as it did with Michael Jackson's death), Twitter is probably one of the most powerful tools available to a journalist today and I urge any journo who doesn't have a Twitter account to get one ASAP!