A French court has ordered Twitter to turn over the identifying information of several users whose accounts published anti-Semitic and racist tweets in violation of French hate speech law, The New York Times reported Thursday. The company has not decided whether or not to comply, according to the report. Twitter has already removed the content in question on Twitter in France specifically, though it may still show up to other users around the world via a localized “content withholding” policy for specific offensive tweet that Twitter unveiled in early 2012.
France officials could attempt to pursue the case in U.S. courts, where Twitter is based, due to international agreements between the two countries.
In several cases in the United States, Twitter has previously taken strong legal measures to try and resist court orders to hand over user information to authorities, including a prominent instance in 2012 involving an Occupy Wall Street protester arrested during a demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge the year prior. After appealing and losing, Twitter finally released that user’s information to the Manhattan District Attorney in September.
(H/T: Mashable.)
