Thousands of Twitter users are posting the name of the
Premier League star who won a super injunction to stop details of his affair
going public in protest at the player's attempts to sue the social networking site.
The star began legal proceedings against Twitter in the High Court earlier this week to try and force the firm
to release details of users who had named him as the married player who'd had a lengthy affair with former Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas.
Lawyers have demanded that Twitter hand over the names of
users who disclosed the player's name in order that they could pursue legal
action against them, and possibly persuade authorities to bring contempt of
court action.
The star's name has been splashed all across Twitter
for several weeks - as well as being published in several other countries - but given that the
site is US-based it seems the married superstar would have little chance of
winning the legal battle.
And now the move has backfired completely as his name has
been repeatedly re-Tweeted by fans of the site, who are apparently outraged at the
attempt to gag their free speech.
"xx xx is suing Twitter. I can't Imogen why," is just
one of the messages being repeated over and over on the site
Twitter are yet to comment on the case, but legal experts
are highly sceptical about the chances of forcing an American company to pay
heed to a British court ruling - particularly given the disarray and confusion
surrounding UK privacy laws.
And if the American firm refuse to obey the UK court order, the player would have to reveal his name should he wish to continue his battle: US law states that he would have to sue the company in his own name, whereas in the UK his legal team have been able to hide his identity behind the mysterious initials CTB.