THURSDAY, 26 JULY 2012 13:28
Twitter has warned the owner of an account spoofing a newspaper executive that they are to reveal his identity to the company.
Northcliffe Media, which is owned by the Daily Mail Group, issued a subpoena to the social network through a Californian court.
The account, @UnSteveDorkland, is a "parody" of Northcliffe's chief executive Steve Auckland.
The company said the tweets were "obsessive and offensive".
"I can confirm we have taken action to ask Twitter for help in identifying the individual in order to protect our staff from harassment," Mr Auckland said in a statement.
"We made no request for, nor had any input in, a decision to stop tweeting. Our first priority is a duty of care to all of our employees."
However, speaking anonymously to the BBC, the account's owner disputed the claims of harassment.
"People can make their own judgement," he said.
"I've not taken anything down. It's all in the public domain, I've not touched them at all."
The order means Twitter must give up all identifying information it has on the account holder.
In an email seen by the BBC, the social network advised the account holder that he could seek the help of the campaign group the Electronic Frontier Foundation or the American Civil Liberties Union.
Northcliffe Media, which is owned by the Daily Mail Group, issued a subpoena to the social network through a Californian court.
The account, @UnSteveDorkland, is a "parody" of Northcliffe's chief executive Steve Auckland.
The company said the tweets were "obsessive and offensive".
"I can confirm we have taken action to ask Twitter for help in identifying the individual in order to protect our staff from harassment," Mr Auckland said in a statement.
"We made no request for, nor had any input in, a decision to stop tweeting. Our first priority is a duty of care to all of our employees."
However, speaking anonymously to the BBC, the account's owner disputed the claims of harassment.
"People can make their own judgement," he said.
"I've not taken anything down. It's all in the public domain, I've not touched them at all."
The order means Twitter must give up all identifying information it has on the account holder.
In an email seen by the BBC, the social network advised the account holder that he could seek the help of the campaign group the Electronic Frontier Foundation or the American Civil Liberties Union.
