TWITTER HAS handed over information about a Tyneside councillor who is alleged to have made libellous comments about fellow councillors and local authority staff – the first time the micro-blogging website has divulged such information.
South Tyneside council went to court in California to demand that Twitter hand over information about councillor Ahmed Khan, following its outrage about a stream of anonymous allegations made on Twitter by a user called “Mr Monkey” in recent months.
Defending itself against charges that it had wasted public money, the local authority told local newspaper, the Shields Gazettethat it had a "duty of care" to protect employees and councillors against "damaging claims".
Mr Khan denies that he is “Mr Monkey”, who has since 2008 made a number of allegations, including charges that councillors were guilty of ballot-rigging, taking drugs and that they had improperly claimed expenses.
Responding by e-mail to questions from a US academic, Mr Khan said he had been told of the local authority’s legal challenge on April 15th and that his details had been handed over on May 5th.
Saying that it would have cost him £500,000 (€576,410) to fight the council in California, Mr Khan said: “I had no knowledge of US law and was wary of the costs involved. I would have had to fund any action myself.”
Mr Khan now complains members of the public who had passed on information to him via Twitter about wrongdoing in the northeast of England council could now have their privacy violated.
The legal action was brought on behalf of three councillors and one senior official. One of the four, former Conservative group leader David Potts, said Mr Monkey was a “deeply tawdry, seedy and perverted little blog”.
Last week, a senior Twitter executive, Anthony Wang, said Twitter would not attempt to protect users’ confidential information if it faced a legal challenge, although it would notify them in advance to give them the opportunity to defend their privacy in court.
Solicitors for Manchester United footballer Ryan Giggs have also demanded information about those who revealed on Twitter he had had an affair with model Imogen Thomas, despite the existence of a court superinjunction.
