Tony Wang, the senior Twitter executive heading up the social network's London office, today warned UK tweeters that any injunction-breaking done on the site would see them left to defend themselves.
Speaking at the e-G8 Forum, a gathering of 'digital leaders' from the G8 nations, Wang responded to questions over the recent super-injunction furore that has spread across Twitter which saw many users tweeting the name of a certain footballer, in conjunction with a story about an extra-marital affair while a court order was in place to prevent any traditional media from reporting the story.
He said, "Platforms have a responsibility, not to defend that user but to protect that user's right to defend him or herself."
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But, he continued, they'd be on their own, while 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."
Wang also admitted that Twitter would willingly give up users' information if "legally required", but that these users would also be told that their personal details had been provided.
Twitter enjoyed quite the traffic boost during the whole ordeal, however; even before the real drama took off UK traffic to the site was up by as much as 14 per cent; by Saturday, Twitter traffic was 10 per cent higher than the site's previous busiest day in the UK.
Via BBC
