We won't block courts' rulings, says Twitter chief

Twitter is prepared to hand over the details of users who break privacy rulings, its European boss has said.

The social networking website is being challenged in the courts to reveal details of users who have broken super-injunctions, after thousands of users named a footballer at the centre of a court gagging order.

That prompted John Hemming MP to name the player in parliament on Monday as Ryan Giggs.

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Other users have claimed to "out" other celebrities who have taken out the controversial injunctions.

European general manager Tony Wang said Twitter will seek to notify users before handing over their details to authorities, but would disclose information if "legally required".

He told a technology summit in Paris: "Platforms have a responsibility not to defend users but to protect that user's right to defend themselves."

"If we are legally required to turn over user information, to the extent that we can, we want to notify the user involved, let them know and let them exercise their rights under their own jurisdiction.

"That's not to say they will ultimately prevail, that's not to say that law enforcement doesn't get the information they need, but what it does do is take that process into the court of law and let it play out there."

Yesterday, Imogen Thomas, the model who is alleged to have had an affair with Giggs, said she tried to end the affair after spending one night with the midfielder, but he insisted on taking her number and they began communicating regularly.

She is still prevented from speaking about her alleged affair with Giggs by a super-injunction made at the High Court in London.

However, yesterday her publicist, Max Clifford, said he had received offers from the US to reveal her side of the story and she was "trying to correct a lot of things out there that have been wrongly said about her".