Blog served with injunction - via Twitter

Jan Colley,Press Association
Thursday 01 October 2009 12:03 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The High Court showed it was in step with the times today when it granted an order which allowed service of an injunction via Twitter.

Solicitors Griffin Law, who dealt with the matter, dubbed it "Blaney's Blarney Order" after the subject matter - a blog called Blaney's Blarney (donalblaney.com).

It requires an unknown Twitter user anonymously posting under the same name, and thus breaching the copyright and intellectual property of the blog's owner, to stop posting and immediately identify themselves.

The firm said that it was the first order ever to be served via Twitter and signalled an end to anonymous breaches of the law on Twitter or any other internet site.

Matthew Richardson, the barrister who obtained the order at a hearing at London's High Court before Mr Justice Lewison, said: "The Blaney's Blarney Order is a huge step forward in preventing anonymous abuse of the internet.

"People have to learn that they can no longer hide behind the cloak of anonymity the internet provides and break the law with impunity."

Donal Blaney, the victim of the anonymous impersonation and the principal of Griffin Law, said: "This is an important step in dealing with online bullying. The scales of justice have been tilted in favour of innocent victims today."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in