Twitter may face legal action over anti-Semitic tweets
LATEST UPDATE:
17/10/2012
Following a wave of
anti-Semitic posts on Twitter, anti-racism groups in France say they were
looking at all legal options to target the authors of thousands of offensive
tweets - and possibly Twitter itself.
By Tony Todd
French anti-racist groups
on Tuesday said they were launching wide-ranging legal action following a wave
of anti-Semitic posts on microblogging site Twitter.
The move follows an
explosion last week in the use of the Twitter hashtag #unbonjuif - meaning “a
good Jew” - to spread anti-Semitic jokes online.
By October 10, the hashtag
was trending third in France (meaning it was the third most popular tagged
subject on the site in the country) and a deluge of offensive posts -- as well
as tweets decrying the racist tone of many of the comments -- continued for
days.
And with anti-Semitic hate
crimes on the rise in France, organisations like SOS Racisme and the French
Jewish Students Union (UEJF) said they were determined pursue those that took
part through the courts.
“We are taking this
extremely seriously,” said SOS Racisme director Guillaume Ayne. “There is a
deep-rooted anti-Semitism in France, and there is a very small step between
racist words and racist acts.”
Ayne told FRANCE 24 that
SOS Racisme’s lawyers were exploring “all avenues for legal action” to respond
to the tweets, which have raised issues relating to the use of social networks
and blogs, and the application of France’s strict laws against racism and
anti-Semitism.
“We absolutely have to
tell people that just because they are sitting behind a computer, they can’t
assume they’ll get away with making racist comments,” he said.
One problem, said Ayne, is
that sites like Twitter are hosted outside of France, and getting the company
to divulge the IP addresses of often anonymous users posting offensive comments
can be an arduous -- and expensive -- process.
Meanwhile, individuals
complaining of racist or defamatory remarks against them are obliged to make a
complaint to the police, hire lawyers and pursue the case through the courts,
which is expensive and no guarantee of success.
‘Sue, sue, sue’
A SAMPLE OF THE OFFENSIVE
TWEETS
According to French lawyer
and online media specialist Gérard Haas, Twitter, as a publisher, is legally
responsible for the content of its website, just as much as its individual
contributors.
He told FRANCE 24 that the
only solution for anti-racism organisations was to target individual tweeters
and “sue, sue, sue” in response to last week’s anti-Semitic Twitter binge.
“Twitter has to improve
its reaction to events like these so that the justice system can quickly
identify who has made posts that are illegal under French anti-racism laws,” he
said.
“Organisations that have
the resources to take people to court should do so, in the greatest numbers
possible, to send out a strong message that the freedom of the Internet does
not mean carte blanche to break the law.”
Taking responsibility
On Tuesday, the French
Jewish Students Union said they were due to lodge a complaint at a Paris court
[the Tribunal de Grande Instance], with a demand that Twitter remove references
to the hashtag, provide the IP addresses of offenders and delete the offensive
tweets.
EUJF President Jonathan
Hayoun added: “If the court accepts the complaint, it will demand a response
from Twitter within 48 hours. If that doesn’t happen, we will go after Twitter
itself as the responsible publisher.”
Hayoun insisted that the
legal action was not intended to hamstring the hugely popular social networking
and micro-blogging site.
“But Twitter cannot become
a zone where people behave with impunity,” he told FRANCE 24. “Everyone has to
take legal responsibility for their actions and statements, wherever they are
made, and whichever racial or religious group they offend.”
Thus far, Twitter has not
responded to requests for comment.
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