Twitter frenzy over footballer gag
Hundreds of people have now posted messages on Twitter allegedly naming the footballer who is the subject of a gagging order.
The married star, who is referred to as CTB in court documents, is said to have had a “sexual relationship” with Big Brother’s Imogen Thomas.
He obtained an order preventing The Sun newspaper from revealing his name last month and has now launched proceedings against Twitter and “persons unknown”.
Lawyers acting for CTB are asking the website for information about the people who “may have breached a court order”. A Twitter spokesman said they were unable to comment on the issue.
The move came after users of the social networking site claimed to have identified a number of individuals said to have taken out injunctions preventing their names being published.
Twitter users responded to news of the court action by repeatedly mentioning the name of one footballer, at a rate of up to 16 times a minute.
A spokesman for Schillings, the law firm that represents CTB, said: “An application has been made to obtain limited information concerning the unlawful use of Twitter by a small number of individuals who may have breached a court order.”
The impact of Twitter has fuelled the privacy debate and highlighted the problems associated with enforcing injunctions. The list of celebrities has reportedly been seen by an estimated two million people.
Lawyer Mark Stephens, who does not represent anybody involved in the case, said documents were filed at London’s High Court on Wednesday.
While the player could potentially sue the “persons unknown”, he is unlikely to be able to take the same action against Twitter which does not fall within British jurisdiction, Mr Stephens said.
Schillings said the footballer’s action did not amount to suing Twitter.
