Twitter Gives Data to the Government - The Thought Police are Coming for You

Microblogging site releases data which could identify users after court battle by "anti-racism" campaigners

Police State  -  Both governments and individuals hate freedom of speech and would make your views on different subjects an Orwellian Thought Crime.

In this case Twitter is releasing the data for so-called "anti-Semites" to the Police State for prosecution.  But would not pro-Zionism Tweets be considered "hate speech" to a Muslim? or Anti-Jihadist Tweets hate speech?  or anti-government rants?  The list of possible Thought Crimes against people could go on forever.

Twitter has handed French authorities data which could identify the users behind a spate of antisemitic tweets after a long court battle begun by so-called "anti-racism" campaigners.

In a rare move, the microblogging site announced on Friday that "in response to a valid legal request" it had provided the Paris prosecutor with "data that may enable the identification of certain users that the vice-prosecutor believes have violated French law". Twitter said this gesture put an end to the long legal dispute.



Policing your thoughts

In October last year, there was outrage after numerous antisemitic comments were tweeted under the hashtags #UnBonJuif (a good Jew) and #UnJuifMort (a dead Jew). When alerted to the tweets, Twitter immediately removed them reports the UK Guardian.

The French Union of Jewish Students (UEJF), backed by anti-racism groups, appealed to a judge to force Twitter to hand over personal details of users who had posted the tweets so they could be prosecuted under French laws against publishing racist and discriminatory hate speech.

Twitter contested the case but in January the Paris high court ruled against the site, saying it must hand over user data. The judge said the messages violated French laws against hate speech and Holocaust denial.

Last month, the Paris appeals court decided not to hear Twitter's appeal and reiterated that it must hand over the user details.

In March the UEJF had launched a civil suit against Twitter for failing to hand over the details, claiming €38.5m (£33m) in damages which it said it would hand over to the Shoah Memorial Fund. It also announced it would sue Twitter's chief executive, Dick Costolo.

Twitter, in its statement on Friday, also vowed to continue to "fight against racism and antisemitism". It said this included "taking measures to improve the accessibility of the reporting procedure of illegal tweets".

Last year, Twitter was ordered to hand over almost three months' worth of messages from an Occupy Wall Street protester, Malcolm Harris, after losing a legal challenge to prosecutors' demands for the old tweets that were no longer on its public site. Twitter is backing an appeal by Harris.

In 2011, Twitter challenged a court order obtained by the US Justice Department requesting user details from some accounts associated with WikiLeaks.

In 2012, in an unprecedented move in Germany, Twitter complied with a request by authorities to block the account of a banned neo-Nazi group in accordance with German law.

“April the 4th, 1984.
To the past, or to the future. To an age when thought is free. From the Age of Big Brother, from the Age of the Thought Police, from a dead man - greetings!”
― George Orwell, 1984