Super Injunctions and Gagging the Press

BBC News wrote:Twitter's new European boss has suggested that users who break privacy injunctions by posting on the site could face the UK courts.

Tony Wang said people who did "bad things" needed to defend themselves.

He warned that the site would hand over user information to the authorities where they were "legally required".

Lawyers are challenging Twitter in court to reveal the identities of Twitter users who violated a super-injunction.

MP John Hemming named Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs in Parliament on Monday as the footballer who had used a super-injunction to hide an alleged affair, after Mr Giggs' name had been widely aired on Twitter.

Responding to a question from BBC News at the e-G8 forum in Paris, Mr Wang said: "Platforms have a responsibility, not to defend that user but to protect that user's right to defend him or herself".

He declined to comment on the case directly but explained that in general, when dealing with cases of illegal activity, Twitter would comply with local laws to turn over user details.

He stressed that the site would also notify those individuals of any such request.

Little sympathy

Mr Wang made it clear that if the matter came to court, those people would be on their own.

He said Twitter would, "let them exercise their own legal rights under their own jurisdiction, whether that is a motion to quash the order or to oppose it or do a number of other things to defend themselves."

The subject of legal jurisdictions and the internet has been hotly debated at the first e-G8 summit.

Technology industry leaders including Google's Eric Schmidt and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg were among the speakers at the event.

While many attendees felt that there was a need for further discussion, among delegates from the United States, there was little sympathy for the British legal position.

"I do view it to being similar to the Chinese situation where they also cover up misdeeds of high ranking people," Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales told the BBC.

He said that, although the internet was a global phenomenon, it was unlikely to pander to those countries with stricter rules.

"The US is going to be absolutely inflexible on this point. It is in the constitution," he said, referring to freedom of speech provisions.

"I think that puts intergovernmental communication and co-operation on this issue into a different light, which is, there's not a whole lot to co-operate on."

Tony Wang

KKLEIN wrote:Don't think people were expecting that kind of response from Twitter...

I called it off a million times... but then I thought he wanted to marry me': Imogen Thomas reveals 'love affair' with Giggs

# Imogen claims: 'He knew it was wrong but he kept pursuing me'
# Family says they fear she may commit suicide
# The couple met for secret love trysts in hotels before big matches

Reality TV star Imogen Thomas claims she tried to break up with Ryan Giggs several times throughout their six-month affair.

She even thought the footballer would leave his wife Stacey and actually wanted to marry her because he refused to let the affair end and kept coming back.

Miss Thomas, 28, met Giggs - who is now being named thanks to Lib Dem MP John Hemming using parliamentary privilege to identify him on Monday - in hotels throughout their relationship.

RogueLeader wrote:The claim that she may be suicidal makes those pictures really jarring.

Rubix wrote:

# Family says they fear she may commit suicide

Tafdolphin wrote:

RogueLeader wrote:The claim that she may be suicidal makes those pictures really jarring.

Exactly. Although I have zero evidence to base this off, that suicide statement combined with those pictures tells me she's making the whole strawberry floating thing up.

What a twat.

RogueLeader wrote:

Tafdolphin wrote:

RogueLeader wrote:The claim that she may be suicidal makes those pictures really jarring.

Exactly. Although I have zero evidence to base this off, that suicide statement combined with those pictures tells me she's making the whole strawberry floating thing up.

What a twat.

I don't think she's making it up, but doesn't she have Max Clifford doing PR for her now? Going for the sympathy angle, tried and tested method.

Tafdolphin wrote:

RogueLeader wrote:

Tafdolphin wrote:

RogueLeader wrote:The claim that she may be suicidal makes those pictures really jarring.

Exactly. Although I have zero evidence to base this off, that suicide statement combined with those pictures tells me she's making the whole strawberry floating thing up.

What a twat.

I don't think she's making it up, but doesn't she have Max Clifford doing PR for her now? Going for the sympathy angle, tried and tested method.

From what I've seen, Giggs got down and dirty with her a few times, she tried to blackmail him, he said no, she went to the press. I seriously doubt there was any long term relationship and it's even less likely she tried to break it off.

Memento Mori wrote:

Tafdolphin wrote:

RogueLeader wrote:

Tafdolphin wrote:

RogueLeader wrote:The claim that she may be suicidal makes those pictures really jarring.

Exactly. Although I have zero evidence to base this off, that suicide statement combined with those pictures tells me she's making the whole strawberry floating thing up.

What a twat.

I don't think she's making it up, but doesn't she have Max Clifford doing PR for her now? Going for the sympathy angle, tried and tested method.

From what I've seen, Giggs got down and dirty with her a few times, she tried to blackmail him, he said no, she went to the press. I seriously doubt there was any long term relationship and it's even less likely she tried to break it off.

You were there were you? More likely you're basing that off the court documents which are hilariously he said/she said. There is no evidence in the public doman that I'm aware of that she tried to blackmail him.

Tafdolphin wrote:

RogueLeader wrote:The claim that she may be suicidal makes those pictures really jarring.

Exactly. Although I have zero evidence to base this off, that suicide statement combined with those pictures tells me she's making the whole strawberry floating thing up.

What a twat.

Tafdolphin wrote:Also, the court docs say that the judge had no evidence to suggest that Giggs was lying whereas Thomas' story was spurious at best.

Memento Mori wrote:

Tafdolphin wrote:Also, the court docs say that the judge had no evidence to suggest that Giggs was lying whereas Thomas' story was spurious at best.

Private Eye has been covering for a few years now Justice Eady's incredibly poor judgements. I'm not inclined to trust him.

Memento Mori wrote:

Tafdolphin wrote:Also, the court docs say that the judge had no evidence to suggest that Giggs was lying whereas Thomas' story was spurious at best.

Private Eye has been covering for a few years now Justice Eady's incredibly poor judgements. I'm not inclined to trust him.

Tafdolphin wrote:Anyway, they're both twats, although I still think Thomas narrowly pips Giggs.