Twitter Of Speech
May 31st, 2011 | by Jen |The online battle over freedom of speech has taken a dramatic turn with the revelation that a British local authority had forced Twitter to hand over the details of a user the council had accused of defamation.
Twitter, based in San Francisco, was ordered by a Californian court to disclose to South Tyneside Council in northern England the name, email address and phone number of a councillor it accused of libelling the council with a string of anonymous postings.
Lawyers acting for the council went to California in April to order Twitter to hand over the details, which could set a precedent in the spiralling row over privacy and free speech online.
Ryan Giggs, the Manchester United footballer named as the plaintiff in a gagging order preventing reporting of an alleged affair with a reality TV model, is separately attempting to unmask Twitter users accused of revealing details of the privacy injunction. Giggs brought his lawsuit at the High Court in London. Use of a California court is likely to be seen as a landmark in the internet privacy battle.