Wetherspoons forces Twitter to divulge identity of parody account author
JD Wetherspoon has scored a significant legal victory against Twitter after its lawyers successfully forced the brand to divulge the identity of the user behind embarrassing parody accounts.
JD Wetherspoon succeed in forcing Twitter to divulge identity of parody account author
The high court ruling, which passed unopposed, gives Twitter until mid-January to hand over information pertaining to both @Wetherspoon_UK and @SpoonsTom which have racked up tens of thousands of followers thanks to a combination of satire and mistaken identity.
The pub chain felt compelled to act after the publication of one tweet in particular which questioned the chain's commitment to the annual poppy appeal which led to some ‘heated’ questions being raised with the board in the mistaken belief that the information was genuine.
Responding to the reports parody account author ‘Tom’ addressed Wetherspoons directly, tweeting their defiance.
Hi people from Wetherooon’s (you’re clearly still lurking about twitter although your company left) feel free to contact me and I will happily disclose all of the info that twitter have on me (a bogus email address) or if you prefer you can give me a number and I’ll call you. Tom pic.twitter.com/PgiqtChEyv
— WETHERSP00NS (@Wetherspoon__UK) December 13, 2018
Wetherspoons’ predicament has been exasperated by the fact it pulled the plug on its own official feed in April, leaving users with no-one but the parody account to turn to.
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